Communities, defined as either physical or sociocultural entities, vary widely in reported levels of resident satisfaction. Dimensions of community characteristics were studied to assess their relative importance to resident community satisfaction. A questionnaire about various community characteristics such as social life, physical characteristics, services, and opportunities, was administered to college students (N=138) from a variety of hometowns. Results indicated that issues of maintenance and attractiveness were most important as well as service and opportunity elements. Concerns relating to social support and cohesion identified a relatively small percentage of the variance associated with community satisfaction. These results may apply, however, to relatively young, mobile, and better educated individuals from small towns. (RC)