Overview Dashboard

What Is the Track Overview Dashboard?

The Track Overview Dashboard is a single-page summary of your community's performance across every livability domain. While the Community Livability Snapshot shows all domains in a visual matrix, the Overview Dashboard shows the underlying Domain Index Scores as histograms, followed by high-level community statistics, demographics, and domain-by-domain summaries — all on one scrollable page.

Think of it as the executive summary of Track. It's designed for quick orientation, preparation for deeper dives into individual domain dashboards, and presentations where you need all the numbers at a glance.

Navigate to Track Data → Overview to access it.

The Three Filters

Three filters at the top of the page control everything you see below them. They apply globally — changing any filter updates the entire page.

Show Data For

Selects which community or group to display. Depending on your account configuration, this dropdown may include:

My Community — Your organization's own community, identified by name (e.g., "My Community (Polcoville)")
Comparison groups — Custom groups configured for your account (e.g., "AZ Counties")
Broader geographies — Wider jurisdictions like "United States of America"

The selection here determines whether you're in Single Community mode or Comparison Group mode — two significantly different views described in detail below.

Data to Display

Toggles between:

GPAL — Standard community indicators across all domains
GPAL for Older Adults — Indicators filtered to surface metrics most relevant to aging populations; pairs with CASOA survey data

Compare Data Against Communities

Sets the benchmark cohort your scores are measured against:

Nationwide — All communities in the GPAL database
Similar Population Size Nationwide — Communities nationally with comparable population
My State — All communities within your state
Similar Population Size in My State — Communities in your state with comparable population

When a comparison group is selected in "Show Data For," the "Compare Data Against Communities" filter is disabled — it's not applicable when viewing a group of specific communities.

A download icon (↓) next to the "Last updated" date in the Domain Index Scores section lets you download the full overview view.

Single Community Mode

When "My Community" is selected, the Overview Dashboard displays a rich, multi-section page containing everything from index scores to demographics to per-domain summaries.

Domain Index Scores

The first major section shows a histogram for each of the 10 livability domains. Each histogram represents the distribution of all communities in the selected benchmark cohort, scored 0–100. Your community appears as a highlighted blue bar; the average is marked with a dashed vertical line.

Domains where your score exceeds the average have their color bar appear to the right of the dashed line. Domains with notably strong scores are shown in a highlighted color (teal/green); standard performance appears in blue.

The page shows all 10 domains at once in a grid layout:

Safety
Economy
Mobility
Utilities
Housing and Community Design
Health and Wellness
Education, Arts & Culture
Community Connection
Natural Environment
Parks and Recreation

A "How Do I Read Histograms?" AI button near this section opens a Polly explanation of histogram charts.

A note below the histograms explains: "This chart displays your index scores for each domain. Each score is the average of the percentiles for each indicator in that domain. The indicators used to calculate the score are a combination of data from public sources and resident sentiment data from The NCS."

Resident Sentiment Data Unavailable Banner

If your community has not conducted the National Community Survey (NCS), a yellow banner appears below the domain histograms:

"The National Community Survey (NCS) has not been conducted in this community, so resident sentiment data are not reflected in the domain index scores. Resident sentiment represents the factors the community believes impact the quality and quantity of their lives. Your domain index scores will only reflect your performance using indicators from publicly available community statistics. Conducting The NCS will provide more accurate performance measurement for your community."

A "View The NCS" button in the banner links to information about ordering the NCS. When your community has completed an NCS, this banner disappears and resident sentiment data appears throughout the page.

Community Livability Section

Below the sentiment banner is a Community Livability section. This pulls resident perception data from the NCS and shows summary quality-of-life measures such as:

Community as a place to live
Overall quality of life in community

If no NCS has been conducted, these fields show "Data unavailable" with a prompt to view NCS information. Once the NCS is completed, these sections fill in with your community's resident responses.

Demographics Section

A Demographics section displays key population statistics for your community at a glance:

Adults with a bachelor's degree (%)
Median annual household income
Median age
Total population

These provide quick context when sharing the overview or interpreting performance data relative to community characteristics. A download icon (↓) allows exporting this table.

Governance Section

A Governance section shows high-level fiscal and government performance data, including operating expenditures and total revenue. As with other sections, resident sentiment on governance quality appears if the NCS has been conducted — otherwise it shows as unavailable.

Finance Section

A Finance section shows top-level government finance indicators such as total expenditures and total revenue. These draw from the Government Finance Database and provide quick fiscal context.

Domain Summary Cards

The remainder of the single-community Overview scrolls through each livability domain in turn. Each domain appears as a summary card containing:

Domain name and Domain Index Score — e.g., Safety: 43 / 100
"What Is This?" button — Opens a Polly explanation of that domain and its scoring
Score last updated timestamp — When the domain score was last recalculated
Community Statistics — One to three key indicators for that domain with current values, shown as progress bars or values (e.g., Violent crime rate, Property crime rate, Monthly unemployment rate)
Resident Sentiment — One key sentiment question from the NCS (e.g., "Overall feeling of safety," "Overall economic health") — shows "Data unavailable" if no NCS has been conducted, with a "View The NCS" link
"Want more data?" prompt — Explains that sentiment data from the NCS provides more accurate performance measurement for that domain

These domain cards are summary views — they show a handful of highlights, not every indicator. For the full set of indicators and trend charts, navigate to Track Data → Data Dashboards and select the specific domain.

Polco Performance Dashboards Footer

At the very bottom of the single-community overview, an expandable "Polco Performance Dashboards — Powered by GPAL" section contains answers to common questions about the data:

Where can I find more data? — Links to Request More Information and the Learn More page
What is GPAL? — Brief explanation of the GPAL framework
Where do these data come from? — Explains that GPAL consolidates public records, private research, and proprietary sources into a single comprehensive dataset

Comparison Group Mode

When a comparison group is selected in "Show Data For" (e.g., "AZ Counties"), the Overview Dashboard changes significantly. Instead of showing your single community against a national distribution, it shows all communities in that group simultaneously.

Domain Index Scores in Group Mode

The histogram section changes to multi-colored bars — each color represents one community in the group. The average for the group is marked with a dashed line. This gives a quick visual of the range of performance across all communities in the group and where the cluster sits relative to the national average.

The caption underneath confirms: "This chart displays your index scores for each domain. Each score is the average of the percentiles for each indicator in that domain. The indicators used to calculate the score are a combination of data from public sources and resident sentiment data from The NCS."

A download icon (↓) allows exporting the group-level domain score view.

Demographics Table in Group Mode

Rather than showing a single community's demographics, the comparison group view shows a sortable Demographics table listing every community in the group with columns for:

Adults with a bachelor's degree (%)
Median annual household income
Median age
Total population

Each row represents one community in the group, making it easy to scan the range of community characteristics across the group at a glance.

What's Different in Group Mode

In comparison group mode, the individual domain summary cards (Governance, Finance, domain-by-domain breakdowns) do not appear on the Overview Dashboard. The detailed per-indicator ranked lists, trend charts, and map views are available when you navigate to Track Data → Data Dashboards with the group still selected.

The "Compare Data Against Communities" filter is grayed out in group mode — it's not applicable because the group itself defines the comparison set.

How to Read a Histogram

The histogram is the key visual element of the Overview Dashboard. Here's how to interpret it:

The bars represent the distribution of all communities in the selected benchmark cohort, grouped into score ranges from 0 to 100. Taller bars mean more communities score in that range.

Your community appears as a highlighted bar (blue in single community mode, or a distinct color among many in group mode).

The dashed vertical line marks the average score for the benchmark group.

Reading your position:

Your bar to the right of the dashed line = your community scores above average
Your bar to the left = below average
The further from the dashed line in either direction, the more significant the difference

The score number shown above or next to the domain name is your Domain Index Score — the average of percentile scores for all included indicators in that domain, on a 0–100 scale.

Common Use Cases for the Overview Dashboard

Start of a leadership meeting or council session The Overview is the fastest way to share where your community stands across all domains at once. The domain score grid, domain summary cards, and demographics give leadership everything they need for orientation before diving into specifics.

Identifying which domain dashboards to explore Lower-scoring domains on the Overview point you toward where to spend time in the detailed domain dashboards. A Safety score of 43 with "Resident Sentiment unavailable" is a signal to both investigate the domain dashboard and consider ordering the NCS.

Regional or state agency monitoring In comparison group mode, the multi-colored histograms and demographics table let a state or county agency see how all jurisdictions in their group compare across every domain simultaneously — without pulling individual reports for each.

Preparing grant applications The demographics section and domain score cards provide quick stats suitable for grant application community profiles. Domain scores below average provide documented evidence of need.

Tracking progress over time As GPAL data refreshes (noted by the "Last updated" timestamps), revisit the Overview to see whether domain scores are moving. Rising scores in formerly weak domains validate strategic investments.

Frequently Asked Questions

Navigate to Track Data → Overview in the left-hand admin navigation. It's the second item under Track Data, below Community Livability.

A weighted, benchmarked composite score (0–100) summarizing your community's performance in one livability domain. It's calculated as the average of the percentile scores for each indicator included in that domain's index. A score of 60 means your community performs at roughly the 60th percentile compared to its selected benchmark group.

Domains where your community scores notably above average are highlighted in a stronger color to draw attention to strengths. Standard performance displays in the default blue.

Resident sentiment sections across the Overview (Community Livability, Governance, and the domain summary cards) are populated by NCS data. If your community hasn't conducted an NCS, those fields show as unavailable. The yellow banner near the top of the page explains this and links to information about ordering the NCS.

The entire page shifts to comparison group mode. The domain histograms become multi-colored (one bar per community in the group), the Demographics section becomes a sortable table of all communities in the group, and the individual domain summary cards disappear. The "Compare Data Against Communities" filter becomes disabled.

Yes — click the download icon (↓) next to the "Last updated" timestamp in the Domain Index Scores section. In comparison group mode, a separate download icon appears next to the Demographics table.

The Community Livability section near the top captures overall quality-of-life perceptions from the NCS (e.g., community as a place to live, overall quality of life). The domain summary cards further down each cover a specific area (Safety, Economy, etc.) and combine both objective GPAL data and domain-specific NCS sentiment questions. They cover different levels of abstraction — general livability vs. specific domain performance.

Governance shows high-level government performance indicators including operating expenditures and resident perceptions of government quality (from the NCS where available). Finance shows top-level fiscal data including total expenditures and revenue from the Government Finance Database. Both provide quick context for understanding your community's fiscal situation alongside livability performance.

Navigate to Track Data → Data Dashboards and select the specific domain from the Dashboard dropdown at the top. This opens the full domain dashboard with all indicators, trend charts, subdomains, goals, and predictions.

Each domain and section shows a "Score last updated [date]" timestamp. GPAL updates on a rolling basis — some indicators refresh monthly (e.g., unemployment), others quarterly or annually. Check the timestamps to understand how recent each section's data is. The full Data Sources page (Track Data → Data Sources) lists each source and can give a sense of expected update frequency.

Both are AI buttons that open Polly with contextual prompts pre-loaded. "How Do I Understand This Page?" gives an overview of what the Dashboard contains and how to interpret it. "How Do I Read Histograms?" explains the bar chart format used for domain index scores. Both are useful for first-time users or when sharing the dashboard with leadership who may not be familiar with the format.