Quality of Life Index

Base year
This is the first (base) year of the Cochise County ’s Quality of Life Index. This means that in 2006, the QOL Index is 100.

Categories
The Index is comprised of 24 indicators, each with its own separate analysis. They are organized into 4 categories of 6 indicators each: You can click on any of the indicators below to learn more about what is being measured and what it is important.

Indicator Weights

In 2006, residents rated each of the areas the Index measures in terms of their importance. This was used to weight each of the indicators. A list of the survey results and the associated weights that are used in the model follows

Indicator	Average Rating	Weight in QOL Index
Safe roads and highways	8.09	4.41%
Crime rate	7.99	4.35%
Availability of healthcare	7.88	4.29%
Quality of county government services	7.78	4.24%
Quality of elementary and secondary education	7.78	4.24%
Water conservation	7.77	4.24%
Cost of living	7.77	4.23%
Availability of higher education opportunities	7.73	4.21%
Availability of law enforcement protection	7.72	4.20%
Level of illegal immigration	7.71	4.20%
Affordable housing	7.71	4.20%
Preserving the natural habitat for plant and wildlife	7.68	4.18%
Wage and salary levels	7.61	4.15%
Preservation of dark skies	7.61	4.14%
Level of health insurance coverage in the county	7.60	4.14%
Level of unemployment	7.59	4.13%
Preserving open spaces	7.57	4.13%
Level of economic growth countywide	7.54	4.11%
Survival of the San Pedro River	7.52	4.10%
Local tax burden	7.50	4.09%
Availability of recycling services	7.48	4.07%
Availability of public parks	7.47	4.07%
Availability of community events and activities	7.28	3.97%
Availability of arts and heritage organizations	7.19	3.92%