Survey rating scales 1-5: Understand your audience better

Last updated: June 10, 2025

What is a 1 to 5 rating scale?

A 1 to 5 rating scale is a simple and effective way to rate the severity or magnitude of something, going from 1, the lowest rating, to 5, the highest rating, which allows respondents to answer quickly and can be applied to a variety of things.

Has your doctor ever asked you to rate your pain from 1 to 5, with 5 being the most severe? If so, you’re already familiar with rating scales. In fact, you probably encounter rating scales routinely without even realizing it.

Rating scales can measure responses that aren’t easily quantified, such as feelings, perceptions, interests, and preferences. A 1 to 5 rating scale is a simple and effective way to rate the severity or magnitude of something.

Why use a 1 to 5 rating scale?

When you’re considering how to create a survey, you may be wondering if you should use a 1 to 5 survey rating scale.

Many people prefer the 1 to 5 rating scale because it’s simple and easy to understand. Rating a product, a business, an experience, or something else on a 1 to 5 scale allows for a range of responses, from very negative to very positive, while also including a neutral option.

In addition to being easy for respondents to understand and complete quickly, a 1 to 5 rating scale also offers the business or entity conducting the survey quick data collection, quantifiable data, and actionable insights for improving products, services, or experiences.

It’s also easier to compare things that have been rated on a 1 to 5 rating scale. For example, if you’re collecting feedback on a product and see a bunch of durability ratings below 2, you know you have a problem with product construction.

Here are some other advantages of using 1 to 5 survey rating scale questions:

Adaptability. The rating scale can be adapted for different contexts by changing the labels associated with each point on the scale. For example, your endpoints could range from “not at all likely” to “extremely likely” or “very poor” to “excellent,” depending on what best fits your specific situation and what you’re trying to measure.
Bias minimization. While a 1 to 5 rating scale won’t eliminate bias completely, it can help alleviate the central tendency bias, where respondents tend to gravitate to the average or middle of a scale rather than considering the full range of answer options.
Cost-effectiveness. A 1 to 5 rating scale survey can be less costly to create and deliver compared to a more complex rating scale.
Efficiency. Rating scale surveys allow data to be collected quickly, which makes them ideal for large-scale studies or circumstances where time is limited.
Inclusion of a neutral response. The 5-point scale can be adapted to include a neutral answer option, such as “neither agree nor disagree.” That way, respondents aren’t forced to choose a response that doesn’t align with their thinking.
Mobile-friendly. Unlike rating scales with more options, 1 to 5 scales are a good fit for mobile devices, which makes survey completion more likely.
Simple analysis. Rating scale surveys produce clear, quantifiable data, making it easier and faster to perform statistical analysis and comparison.
User-friendly. Because the 1 to 5 rating scale is easy to understand, it can lead to quicker responses and higher survey completion rates.
Versatility. Survey rating scales can be applied in a wide range of scenarios, such as employee performance reviews, product evaluations, market research, customer satisfaction surveys, and more. They can also be adapted to measure a broad variety of attitudes, opinions, and experiences.

How to use a 1 to 5 rating scale

A 1 to 5 rating scale is a great way to collect feedback on a person’s thoughts and feelings. It can be used to rate almost anything, from software applications to menu items sold at a restaurant.

The first step is to create a list of questions that allow someone to rank by degree. For example, you could ask participants how easy it was to navigate your app’s main screen, and then give the following answer options:

1 means you didn’t enjoy it at all and would not recommend it to others.
2 means you didn’t enjoy it but might recommend it to others.
3 means you enjoyed it, but it wasn’t your favorite.
4 means you really enjoyed it and would recommend it to others.
5 means you loved it and would definitely recommend it to others.

After collecting responses from your survey, you’ll need to organize the data visually. Jotform surveys, as an example, load data into an underlying database. This database helps you quickly see all participants’ answers in one place and spot trends in user responses — helping you understand what’s working and what’s not.

Rating scales are becoming increasingly common in our daily lives. Healthcare organizations use them to monitor depression, anxiety, stress, and overall well-being. Other organizations use rating scale surveys to provide better value to their clients and customers. You can gain equally valuable insights by using them in your own business.

Different survey rating scales for different tasks

Rating scales range from super simple to highly complex. Each rating scale can be used to gather specific data. Here’s a list of nine common rating scales and how they can be used in surveys:

Likert scale. Participants rate their level of agreement with items that describe a topic, like customer satisfaction, usability, or loyalty. This type of survey might propose a statement like “It’s important for me to use my cell phone throughout the day” and ask the participant to choose from a range of options beginning with “strongly disagree” and ending with “strongly agree.”

Linear numeric scale. In a linear numeric scale, participants provide a numeric response to a question or statement. This response may relate to overall satisfaction, ease of use, brand favorability, importance of a certain feature, or likelihood of a recommendation. You may have seen this example recently: “How likely are you to recommend our app to friends and family?”
Frequency scale. This type of scale helps you understand how often people perform certain actions. For example, a frequency scale question like “How often do you use your car to commute to work?” helps researchers better understand participants’ driving habits.

Paired comparison scale. A paired comparison scale helps to discern preferences between two things, such as websites, brands, or designs. For example, if you’re trying to learn about consumer brand preferences, you might show your survey group the branding for two different companies and ask, “Of the two brands shown, which do you prefer?”

Pictorial/graphic scale. With a pictorial or graphic scale, participants use visuals instead of numbers to indicate their opinion of a particular product. This option can be helpful when participants are already used to a measurement method such as stars and thumbs-up for movie ratings.
Smiley face/emoji scale. This type of scale uses smiley faces or emojis (such as happy, sad, neutral, or angry) to represent satisfaction levels. The survey respondent selects the smiley face or emoji that best reflects their sentiment or attitude about a product, service, or experience. This type of rating scale works well for customers of all ages and backgrounds, including children and those with limited language proficiency.
Star rating scale. This type of rating scale asks respondents to select the appropriate number of stars to rate their level of satisfaction concerning a product, service, or experience, where one star is the lowest level of satisfaction and five stars is the highest. This kind of rating scale works especially well for e-commerce and review platforms. Because star rating scales are quick and easy to answer, they typically have a high response rate.

Net Promoter Score^®. This popular rating scale and single-question survey measures customer loyalty by asking customers to rate their likelihood of recommending a product, service, or business to their friends, family, or colleagues on a scale of 0 (not at all likely) to 10 (extremely likely). Your Net Promoter Score (NPS) can help you better understand and improve customer satisfaction.
Importance scale. An importance scale rates the value of specific statements or certain aspects or features of a product or service, ranging from “not at all important” to “extremely important.” For example, a software company might present the statement, “This new product feature is important to me,” with agreement options from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” Alternatively, the question might be phrased, “Rate the importance of analytics and reporting in project management software,” where the respondent chooses on a scale of “not at all important” to “extremely important.”

Before deciding which method to use for your next survey, consider the different types of surveys people are already accustomed to in your industry. Your subject matter is also a significant factor. Using a linear numeric scale in healthcare surveys may be best because people are accustomed to rating their level of discomfort on that scale. On the other hand, a paired comparison scale may be best for marketing since you can gain valuable customer insights by understanding how you stack up against the competition.

1 to 5 rating scale questions and examples by use case

Your business objectives and goals, along with the purpose of your survey, the data you need to collect, and the insights you’re seeking to gain will all determine the survey rating scale questions you decide to use.

With that in mind, let’s highlight a few 1 to 5 rating scale questions and examples, categorized by use case.

Customer satisfaction survey

This type of survey can be used to measure customer satisfaction across a range of customer experiences, including customer service, product quality, website or app ease of use, pricing, customer effort to resolve an issue, and overall satisfaction, among other things.

Here are some examples of customer satisfaction survey rating scale questions:

On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = very dissatisfied and 5 = very satisfied, how satisfied are you with our product or service?
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = not at all likely and 5 = very likely, how likely are you to recommend our product or service to others?
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = very poor and 5 = excellent, how would you rate the customer service you received?
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = very difficult and 5 = very easy, how would you rate the ease of use of our website/mobile app?

Employee survey

An employee survey evaluates employee satisfaction and engagement. You can apply 1 to 5 rating questions to assess how employees view work-life balance, levels of communication, leadership effectiveness, growth opportunities, and more.

The following are some examples of employee survey rating scale questions:

On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = very dissatisfied and 5 = very satisfied, how satisfied are you with growth and development opportunities within the company?
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree, please rate the statement, “My workplace supports a healthy work-life balance.”
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = very poor and 5 = excellent, how would you rate the information you receive from your manager?
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = not comfortable at all and 5 = very comfortable, how comfortable do you feel sharing your ideas and expressing your opinions at work?

Event feedback survey

This type of survey gathers feedback from event attendees to help gauge event satisfaction, identify areas for improvement, and customize future events.

Here are examples of event feedback survey rating scale questions:

On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = not at all satisfied and 5 = very satisfied, how satisfied were you with the event overall?
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = very uninformative and 5 = very informative, how would you rate the keynote presentation?
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = very poor and 5 = excellent, how would you rate the event venue and facilities?
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = very unlikely and 5 = very likely, how likely are you to attend one of our events in the future?

Guest experience survey (hotels and restaurants)

Surveys in the hotel and restaurant industries collect feedback to enhance guest satisfaction, identify areas for improvement, and build stronger relationships with guests and patrons — all of which helps increase loyalty and leads to more positive reviews.

The following are examples guest experience feedback survey rating scale questions:

On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = not comfortable at all and 5 = very comfortable, how comfortable was your stay with us?
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = not at all satisfied and 5 = very satisfied, how satisfied were you with the quality of the food and beverages at our establishment?
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = very poor and 5 = excellent, how would you rate the staff’s ability to meet your requests or preferences?
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = very difficult and 5 = very easy, how would you rate the ease and efficiency of the check-in/checkout process?

Product feedback survey

You can use product feedback surveys to gauge customer satisfaction, identify areas for improvement, enhance user experience, and refine product performance. Ultimately, relying on data rather than assumptions can help you increase customer satisfaction and lead to better positioning in the market.

Here are some examples of product feedback survey rating scale questions:

On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = not at all satisfied and 5 = very satisfied, how satisfied are you with the performance of our product?
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = very difficult and 5 = very easy, how would you rate the user interface and overall ease of use of our product?
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = never and 5 = daily, how often do you use our mobile app?
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = not at all and 5 = completely, how well does our product meet your needs and expectations?
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = not at all valuable and 5 = extremely valuable, how would you rate the value of our product for its price?
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = not at all likely and 5 = extremely likely, how likely are you to recommend our product to a friend or colleague?

Other use cases for 1 to 5 rating scale questions include:

Best practices for using the 1 to 5 rating scale in surveys

Now that we’ve highlighted some examples of rating scale questions by use case, let’s consider the best practices that will help ensure you get good results.

Avoid biased language or leading questions. Use neutral language that doesn’t imply a specific response. For example, don’t ask “How great do you find our new product features?” Instead, use an unbiased question like, “How would you rate our new product features on a scale of 1 to 5?”

Balance positive and negative wording. Use balanced scale labels that range from negative to positive and include a neutral option. For example, offer options from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” with a middle option labeled “neutral” or “neither agree nor disagree.”

Avoid double-barreled questions. Double-barreled questions combine two separate topics into one question. This makes it challenging for survey respondents to provide an accurate answer and can lead to skewed results. Instead of “How happy are you with your salary and work environment?” use two separate questions: “How happy are you with your salary?” and “How satisfied are you with your work environment?”

Keep questions short and specific. Questions should be simple, concise, unambiguous, and easy for survey respondents to understand. This helps increase survey response rates. Some examples include “How would you rate the quality of our customer service on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = poor and 5 = excellent?” or “How easy was it to use our mobile app, where 1 = very difficult and 5 = very easy?”

Create a visual representation of the data. Data visualization presents information in the form of bar charts, pie charts, maps, graphs, infographics, and sometimes data visualization dashboards to help people interpret data. Benefits of data visualization include enhanced clarity and understanding, the ability to more easily identify trends and patterns, and improved data analysis.

Limit the number of questions. Limit the number of survey rating scale questions to only the most relevant and important.This will help avoid respondent fatigue and increase response rates.

Consider adding a follow-up question. You may want to add an open-ended question as a follow-up to gain a deeper understanding of respondent attitudes and opinions. This qualitative data can provide context and help you gauge the reasons for the numerical ratings.

Use survey rating scales to get the data you need

Relentless market pressure is making organizations ever more data-centric. Businesses that understand their audience best will rise above any competition that’s complacent in assumptions about their customers.

Learning from your audience requires skillfully asking the right questions in the right way. Although rating scales are intuitive and simple, their results can be powerful indicators of what people really want from your organization.

Jotform makes it easy to survey your audience. Its online platform can help you create surveys, distribute them, and learn from the data simply and quickly. Try creating your first survey now for free.

Net Promoter^®, NPS^®, NPS Prism^®, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., NICE Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld. Net Promoter Score^SM and Net Promoter System^SM are service marks of Bain & Company, Inc., NICE Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.

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AUTHOR

Jotform Editorial Team

Jotform's Editorial Team is a group of dedicated professionals committed to providing valuable insights and practical tips to Jotform blog readers. Our team's expertise spans a wide range of topics, from industry-specific subjects like managing summer camps and educational institutions to essential skills in surveys, data collection methods, and document management. We also provide curated recommendations on the best software tools and resources to help streamline your workflow.