Have you ever called 311 to report a neighbor’s overgrown lawn? Or because your car got booted downtown? Maybe you flagged a broken stoplight on your way to work?
In Austin, residents filed 297,985 such requests for service through 311 in 2025.
Trash-related calls topped the list citywide, specifically those reporting missed garbage collection. Austin Resource Recovery spokesperson Paul Bestgen said that can occur for a variety of reasons, including late or improper cart set-outs or operational issues like damaged trucks or weather. Similar issues drive many complaints about compost and recycling pick-up, he said.
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Requests for code officers ranked second. Those calls typically involved concerns about land use violations, property maintenance, unsafe structures and work done without permits, Austin 311 spokesperson Brynn McCurley said.
Austin Resource Recovery, which oversees garbage, recycling and bulk pickup, handled the largest share of routed requests.
The Transportation and Public Works Department, which handles parking enforcement, infrastructure issues and transportation complaints, received the next highest number of requests. Austin Animal Services followed, responding to concerns about lost or found pets and wildlife.
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About 10,340 complaints came from areas outside city limits.
Not every department responds to calls outside Austin’s boundaries, and each follows its own process for handling them, Austin 311 spokesperson Michael Schoppe said.
Inside city limits, downtown Austin generated the most 311 calls in 2025, with 12,391 complaints.
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That compares to 9,418 complaints out of Bluff Springs, the city neighborhood that generated the second-highest number of calls.
The most common type of complaint out of downtown was, perhaps unsurprisingly, parking violation enforcement. It also received the highest number of “outdoor commercial venue music” complaints — 1,643 total, compared to 411 in runner-up District 3.
Issues with electric scooters and bikes also were a big gripe downtown, drawing 1,064 calls. That’s compared to 206 for the next-highest District 3.
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Austin City Council Member Zohaib “Zo” Qadri, whose district encompasses downtown, acknowledged the area has historically generated the most 311 requests. He said that it is a sign of the district’s busyness — and its population of savvy residents and business owners “who know how to access city services and expect a response,” rather than an indicator that it has an outsized share of unhappy residents.
“District 9’s higher share of 311 requests reflects, in large part, a dense, highly active part of the city where residents, workers, and visitors are consistently engaging with city services and importantly feel comfortable using 311 to do so,” Qadri said in a written statement.
He noted that 311 usage and awareness are not evenly distributed throughout the city.
In 2022, District 2 Council Member Vanessa Fuentes sponsored a resolution directing the city manager to explore ways to expand 311 access and awareness. In January, the city launched a fully translated Spanish experience in the 311 app — a long-awaited update for Fuentes.
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Fuentes said she strongly believes in 311 as a tool for the community.
“It’s how we ensure that Austin residents can have trust and faith in the city of Austin and the delivery of city services, especially since their taxpayer dollars are paying for service,” Fuentes said.
The three ways to submit a 311 complaint:
Call 311
Use Austin’s 311 mobile app
Visit austin311.org
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About the data
The American-Statesman used publicly-available 311 data from the Austin open data portal. This data only includes 311 service requests. In some cases, a 311 contact can be resolved directly with the 311 ambassador and therefore does not lead to a service request. These instances are not represented in the publicly available data and therefore are excluded in this analysis.
One complaint can be represented by multiple instances in the data if residents contact 311 multiple times about the same issue.
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