SOMERVILLE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Once every two years since 2011, the city of Somerville sends residents a happiness survey.

Nearly 17,000 randomly chosen households get either a postcard or a survey packet.

Anna Gartsman is the city's Statistics Director and leads SomerStat, the office running the survey.

SomerStat is a performance management team that works with Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne to integrate data into the city's decision-making process. "People don't come and tell you that they're neutral on something," Gartsman said. "The people who show up are either ecstatic or super unhappy."

Somerville is believed to be just one of a handful of municipalities in the country running this kind of survey that measures a person's well-being, and perhaps the only one that does so regularly.

Results from the survey are used to help the city identify issues that are important to people, and in some cases, change or even implement new policies.

In the past, the decision to add more city trees relied upon this survey.

Gartsman said overall, survey results show people to be satisfied with their lives.

In the last survey year, 2023, 76% of residents said they were either "happy" or "very happy" with their lives.

But there are indications that the level of satisfaction could be dropping. "The data that's coming in now in 2025 shows an interesting change," she said. "People are still equally happy with their life in Somerville, but we are seeing a drop in overall happiness."

Gartsman said that could be a reflection of the uncertainty in the world right now, but that they would need to wait until all the data is in to get a fuller picture.

Survey participation is voluntary and anonymous.

Results from the most recent survey are expected to be ready and shared with the community at the end of the year.

WBZ NewsRadio's Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.