FAQs

What is RACE COUNTS?

RACE COUNTS is an initiative that uses race as the primary lens to understand inequity in California. RACE COUNTS’ goal is to dismantle systemic racism and transform public systems in California through data, research, and advocacy. The RACE COUNTS initiative is built around a comprehensive, cutting-edge tool that has racial disparity data for over 40 indicators across seven issue areas. The tool has data at multiple levels: state and county. In addition to the data tool, RACE COUNTS includes research reports and data briefs, and provides support to community-based organizations in their policy change and advocacy efforts.

Who created RACE COUNTS?

Catalyst California partnered with key thought leaders, community organizers, and policy advocates across issues and regions, most notably California Calls, PICO California, and the University of Southern California’s Equity Research Institute (ERI). 

How were the issue areas and indicators on RACE COUNTS determined?

We talked to more than 80 partners across the state to identify the seven issue areas and 40+ indicators measuring the outcomes and racial disparities produced by California’s systems. Data availability was central to this determination as data needs to be available by race for counties and cities across the state.

What do outcomes mean on RACE COUNTS? What does disparity mean on RACE COUNTS? How is disparity measured? What does impact mean on RACE COUNTS?

For answers to these questions visit our Methodology page.

What do the colors on the charts, maps, and tables mean?

We assign communities to one of four categories based on how well they are doing on racial disparity and overall outcomes compared to the average. Communities with better than average outcomes and higher than average racial disparity are in the ‘Prosperity for the Few’ category. These communities will appear orange on maps, tables, and scatterplots. For example, if your community falls in this category for high school graduation, your community’s overall graduation rate is on the higher end, but students in some groups are substantially less likely to graduate than others. 

Communities with lower outcomes and lower disparity are placed in the ‘Struggling to Prosper’ category and will appear yellow. In these places, systems are producing worse outcomes for most residents. As RACE COUNTS calculations are based on comparison to the average, it is important to note that even when a place is doing better than others, disparities still exist and there is always room to improve outcomes. 

When a community has larger disparities and worse overall outcomes than the average, it is placed in the ‘Stuck and Unequal’ category and will appear red. Communities with higher outcomes and lower disparity fall in the ‘Gains at Risk’ category and will appear purple. In these places, systems are producing better outcomes for most residents. 

Why are data missing for some racial or ethnic groups and not others?

Data are missing for some groups due to lack of disaggregation or non-collection from the original source of suppression because of statistical instability. Generally, data disaggregated by ancestry are not available at county and city levels. You can see them for a select few cities and counties, as well as at region and state levels on our partner’s National Equity Atlas website. For more information on how we work with race and ethnicity data, see our Race and Ethnicity Methodology document on our GitHub repository.

How often are the data updated?

Data are updated annually. Most data sources publish data at least 2-3 years behind the current year.

How do I cite RACE COUNTS?

Catalyst California; RACE COUNTS, racecounts.org, 2023