OUR PATH FORWARD
Long before the COVID-19 crisis hit, disparities have been widening in metro regions across the United States. In the greater Seattle region, disparities around race, gender and geography not only harm some people and communities more than others—particularly Black and Indigenous people —they inhibit the well being of the entire region. Shared prosperity—the idea that we all do better when we all do better—is central to the way Civic Commons addresses these threats and inequities to create a fair system in which everyone has access to the opportunity and resources they need to thrive. With this framework in mind, we convened a panel for a webcast exploring shared prosperity, what it means, and the possibilities it presents for making equitable change in our community. Learn more about how inclusivity benefits everyone and Our Path Forward here.
Dimensions of Prosperity
We measure Greater Seattle’s shared prosperity by tracking the total well-being of its residents. Prosperity is truly shared when everyone’s basic needs are met and everyone has access to economic opportunity.
Collectively these measurements are meant to help guide local decisions and drive greater equity.
How to read the data
- Good news! Our region is headed in the right direction.
- Watch out! This trend means something is wrong.
-
- Arrows show you whether a trend is increasing or decreasing.
Individuals
Individuals thrive when their health outcomes improve and when occurrence of chronic disease and exposure to violence decreases over time.
See more data on individuals >Change in adults with health concerns
1.6%
White
6.3%
People of color
15.3%
Households
Household thrive when families can build wealth over time with long term assets like personal savings and home ownership, and through entrepreneurship.
See more data on households >Change in median household income
8.0%
White
7.1%
Black
4.9%
Communities
Communities thrive when residents are stable, food secure and not forced to move due to affordability, development, or access. Environmental sustainability also plays a critical role.
See more data on communities >Change in cost-burdened households
2.1%
White
2.9%
Black
2.2%
Economy
Our economy thrives when the region’s businesses expand, hiring is robust, educational attainments rise and traffic delays don’t obstruct the movement of people.
See more data on economy >Change in GDP
9.1%
Democracy
Our democracy thrives when people participate in community processes and engage with elected representatives.
See more data on democracy >Change in voter participation rate
6.1%
White
6.0%
People of color
3.0%
Individuals
People tend to thrive when their primary health needs are met. Our key indicator here is the percentage of adults with health concerns. However, to gauge the overall well-being of individuals, we also track incarceration rates, group participation rates, mental health indicators and air quality.
What are we seeing?
Overall increasing individual concerns for the Greater Seattle region include decreasing group participation rates and worsening mental health.
Increasing or constant racial disparities include the disproportionate imprisonment of Black and American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people with the incarceration rates of Black and AI/AN people being 5.6 and 3.4 times higher than white people in King County. Furthermore, the percentage of Asian adults with health concerns has steadily grown from 5.8% in 2017 to 10.0% in 2019.
A highlight is the reduction of Hispanic adults reporting poor health from 22.8% in 2017 to 18.5% in 2019. We also see that Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (NHPI) had a decrease poor mental health from 16.7% in 2017 to 14.3% in 2019.
Adults with health concerns (%)
Percentage of adults ages 18+ in King County who reported that their general health is fair or poor.
Why is this metric important?
Individual perspective on health status provides insight into the general feeling of well-being and security felt by the region's residents.
Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
*Interpret AI/AN and NHPI percentages with caution since there are small sample sizes. These were included to ensure representation.
Group Participation Rate (%)
Percentage of the population surveyed by National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Area that participated in at least one group.
Why is this metric important?
Participation fosters feelings of belonging and connection, leading to better overall mental and physical health.
Source: National Conference on Citizenship - Data directly provided by NCoC, Seattle City Club
Incarceration Rate
Number of people incarcerated (adult and juvenile detention population) per 100,000 people in King County.
Why is this metric important?
High rates of incarceration have negative effects on family stability, toxic stress levels, and have been shown to be connected with poor health outcomes for individuals.
Source: King County
Poor Physical Health (%)
Percentage of population in King County that reported 14+ days when their physical health is not good.
Why is this metric important?
Poor physical health, including chronic illnesses, creates barriers for individual participation in the economy, and drives costs through the health care system.
Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
*Interpret AI/AN and NHPI percentages with caution since there are small sample sizes. These were included to ensure representation.
Poor mental health (%)
Percentage of population in King County that reported 14+ days when their mental health is not good.
Why is this metric important?
Mental health is a significant contributor to overall health, and can result in isolation and loss of a sense of belonging. It is also often a precursor to people experiencing homelessness.
Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
*Interpret AI/AN and NHPI percentages with caution since there are small sample sizes. These were included to ensure representation.
unhealthy air quality days
Number of days that air quality was unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy, or very unhealthy in King County.
Why is this metric important?
Unhealthy air quality restricts activity for all residents, and acutely impacts sensitive and unhealthy group's quality of life.
Source: EPA
Households
A household is a group of people who are related and live together. To see how well households are doing, we look at median household income. We also track employment, on-time graduation rates, access to public transportation, and homeownership to give us a picture of how families are doing.
What are we seeing?
While overall household income increased, the median white household income is consistently nearly double that of Black and AI/AN households ($107K vs $52K and $40K respectively).
A potentially promising trend is increasing homeownership rates for Hispanic people (34.7% in 2017 to 38.9% in 2019), although homeownership decreased or stayed the same for all other people of color (POC) groups from 2017 - 2019.
High school graduation rates also increased for AI/AN students from 61.8% in 2017 to 69.5% in 2019.
Median Household Income (In thousands of dollars)
Annual median household income in King County.
Why is this metric important?
Growth in household income is a critical driver in building household wealth and also leads to increased consumption which supports broader economic growth for the region.
Source: ACS
*Interpret AI/AN and NHPI percentages with caution since there are small sample sizes. These were included to ensure representation.
Change In Employment (%)
Percentage change in employment across all industries in King County.
Why is this metric important?
Growing employment indicates robust commerce and provides new job and growth opportunities for the region's residents.
Source: BLS
High School Graduation Rate (%)
Rate of students in King County who graduated high school.
Why is this metric important?
A highly functioning education system results in a resident base that is engaged, employable, and productive.
Source: WA Office of Superintendent.
Public Transportation Accessibility (%)
Percentage of population in King County that live within a quarter-mile walk of a bus stop.
Why is this metric important?
Well designed transit networks, coupled with easy access connect residents with job centers, create economic opportunities for people while reducing traffic congestion.
Source: King County Metro
Homeownership Rate (%)
Percentage of the population in King County that owns a home.
Why is this metric important?
Homeownership is a primary method of building household wealth over time and provides greater financial security and flexibility.
Source: ACS
*Interpret AI/AN and NHPI percentages with caution since there are small sample sizes. These were included to ensure representation.
Communities
Communities do best when their members can easily afford the basics of life—food and shelter. To track this, we watch the number of households that pay more than 30% of their monthly wages for housing. We also track the percentage of jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage, average rental prices, and carbon emissions.
What are we seeing?
Overall household cost burden decreased slightly from 38.0% in 2017 to 36.8% in 2019, but there are persistent disparities with Hispanic and Black households having higher percentages of cost burden when compared to their white counterparts (44.5% and 55.8% vs 35.1% in 2019).
However many measures improved including an increasing percentage of jobs that pay a family sustaining wage, decreasing food insecurity and decreasing changes in median rental prices.
Change in CO2 emissions was much smaller in 2019 going from 7.3% in 2016 to 0.3% in 2017 which should improve overall quality of life for poorer communities where climate change has the most acute negative impacts.
Cost Burdened Households (%)
Combined percentage of renter and owner units with housing costs more than 30% of household income in King County.
Why is this metric important?
Housing costs in excess of 30% of income limit financial security, and can prevent upward mobility by restricting funds available for personal growth and continued education.
Source: ACS
Jobs That Pay a Family-Sustaining Wage (%)
Percent of total jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage (defined as two working adults with two children); i.e., share of total employment/jobs in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area that has a mean hourly wage equal to or greater than the living wage from the MIT index.
Food Insecurity Rate (%)
Percentage of population that is food insecure in King County. Food insecurity refers to USDA’s measure of lack of access, at times, to have enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods.
Why is this metric important?
Experiencing hunger can be a barrier to educational success, participation in the economy, and can lead to poor health including malnutrition.
Source: Feeding America
Change in Median Rental Price (%)
Year-over-year percentage change in the median rental price for one-bedroom apartments in Seattle.
Why is this metric important?
Indicates the general inflation rate for housing in the region, which has been shown to highly correlate to the incidence of people experiencing homelessness. This measure is influenced by both the supply of affordable housing as well as overall demand.
Source: ACS
Change in CO2 Emissions
Year-over-year percentage change in carbon dioxide emissions in million metric tons in Washington State.
Why is this metric important?
Carbon emissions are directly tied to changing climate and the downstream impacts on health, livability, and economic distress caused that most acutely impact vulnerable communities.
Economy
Many factors contribute to a thriving economy. The gross domestic product, or GDP, is a measure of the total value of the goods and services produced in the area. Other metrics add to the story too. We also track household employment, the vitality of new business, the region’s educational attainment, and the rate of people moving to King County, among other numbers.
What are we seeing?
GDP growth drivers have taken a recent downturn with decreasing new private sector establishments, postsecondary completion rate, and # of people moving to King County.
However, facilitating economic growth is a decreasing change in weekday traffic delay.
Economic vitality remains challenging for small businesses with decreasing change in small business employment.
Change in GDP (%)
Year-over-year percentage change in Gross Domestic Product in millions of current dollars (not adjusted for inflation) for all industries, in King County.
Why is this metric important?
Expansion of economic activity benefits our region's businesses and creates opportunities for all residents to participate in that growth.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis
Change in Small Business Employment (%)
Year-over-year percentage change in small business employment index in Seattle.
Why is this metric important?
A vibrant and diverse small business sector creates opportunities for new ventures to grow into medium and large businesses, and insulates the region from sector-specific shocks.
Source: Paychex
New Private Sector Establishments (%)
Survival rate of private sector establishments after one year in Washington State.
Why is this metric important?
Successful new businesses promote opportunities for entrepreneurship and innovation and are a particularly good vehicle for household wealth accumulation.
Source: BLS
Change in Loans to Businesses Less Than $1M In Revenue (%)
Year-over-year percentage change in amount of loans to businesses <$1M in revenue in King County.
Why is this metric important?
Efficient flow of capital into small businesses promotes a vibrant and diverse commercial sector and provides greater opportunity for entrepreneurship and innovation.
Source: FFIEC
Postsecondary Education Rate (%)
Percentage of population age 25+ in King County with some college or associate's degree or higher.
Why is this metric important?
Residents with postsecondary degrees have better job prospects and higher earning potential than those without.
Source: ACS
*Interpret AI/AN and NHPI percentages with caution since there are small sample sizes. These were included to ensure representation.
Number of People Moving to King County (in Thousands)
Population who moved to King County from another county, state, or country.
Why is this metric important?
Migration into our region provides a deeper pool of talent for businesses to employ, and indicates a region that is attractive to outsiders.
Source: ACS
*Interpret AI/AN and NHPI percentages with caution since there are small sample sizes. These were included to ensure representation.
Change in Weekday Traffic Delay (%)
Year-over-year percentage change to average daily weekday delay in general purpose lanes on freeway corridors for King and Snohomish counties.
Why is this metric important?
Freeway congestion restricts the efficient flow of physical goods, increases commute times, and causes pollution.
Source: WSDOT
Democracy
A strong democracy relies on the activity of many individuals. Our key metric here is voter participation rates. We also look at neighborhood participation rates and the rate at which people contact a local official.
What are we seeing?
Voter participation rates were primarily driven by decreases in white voting rates, as POC rates increased by 3.0%, and disproportionality of participation by these groups drives overall participation rate down
Overall neighbor participation rate and people contacting public officials increased, signaling greater civic engagement and sense of belonging
These increases were most significant among POC, with neighbor participation rate increasing +21% (compared to +16% for whites) and contacting officials increasing +7% (compared to +2% for whites)
Voter Participation Rate (%)
Percentage of population in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Area that voted in local elections sometimes or always.
Why is this metric important?
Broader participation in elections results in more representative government, policies that reflect the will of the region's residents, and promotes greater civic engagement.
Source: National Conference on Citizenship - Data directly provided by NCoC, Seattle City Club
Neighbor Participation Rate (%)
Percentage of population in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Area that did something positive for their neighborhood or the community.
Why is this metric important?
Connection with neighbors increases an individual's sense of belonging and builds civic engagement. Communities that are more connected are more resilient to change.
Source: National Conference on Citizenship - Data directly provided by NCoC, Seattle City Club
ComMUNICATED WITH PUBLIC OFFICIAL (%)
Percentage of population in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Area that contacted or visited a public official.
Why is this metric important?
Accessing power to share perspectives or try to influence policy are critical elements of well-functioning democratic practices.
Sources: National Conference on Citizenship - Data directly provided by NCoC, Seattle City Club
FAQ’s
To view Frequently Asked Questions, click the button below
MORE ABOUT CIVIC COMMONS
Our mission
Civic Commons aims to reimagine civic engagement in our region by elevating community voices, fostering belonging and creating new models of cross-sector collaboration to achieve shared goals.
Communities
Communities do best when their members can easily afford the basics of life—food and shelter. To track this, we watch the number of households that pay more than 30% of their monthly wages for housing. We also track the percentage of jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage, average rental prices, and carbon emissions.
What are we seeing?
Overall household cost burden decreased slightly from 38.0% in 2017 to 36.8% in 2019, but there are persistent disparities with Hispanic and Black households having higher percentages of cost burden when compared to their white counterparts (44.5% and 55.8% vs 35.1% in 2019).
However many measures improved including an increasing percentage of jobs that pay a family sustaining wage, decreasing food insecurity and decreasing changes in median rental prices.
Change in CO2 emissions was much smaller in 2019 going from 7.3% in 2016 to 0.3% in 2017 which should improve overall quality of life for poorer communities where climate change has the most acute negative impacts.
Cost Burdened Households (%)
Combined percentage of renter and owner units with housing costs more than 30% of household income in King County.
Why is this metric important?
Housing costs in excess of 30% of income limit financial security, and can prevent upward mobility by restricting funds available for personal growth and continued education.
Source: ACS
Jobs That Pay a Family-Sustaining Wage (%)
Percent of total jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage (defined as two working adults with two children); i.e., share of total employment/jobs in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area that has a mean hourly wage equal to or greater than the living wage from the MIT index.
Food Insecurity Rate (%)
Percentage of population that is food insecure in King County. Food insecurity refers to USDA’s measure of lack of access, at times, to have enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods.
Why is this metric important?
Experiencing hunger can be a barrier to educational success, participation in the economy, and can lead to poor health including malnutrition.
Source: Feeding America
Change in Median Rental Price (%)
Year-over-year percentage change in the median rental price for one-bedroom apartments in Seattle.
Why is this metric important?
Indicates the general inflation rate for housing in the region, which has been shown to highly correlate to the incidence of people experiencing homelessness. This measure is influenced by both the supply of affordable housing as well as overall demand.
Source: ACS
Change in CO2 Emissions
Year-over-year percentage change in carbon dioxide emissions in million metric tons in Washington State.
Why is this metric important?
Carbon emissions are directly tied to changing climate and the downstream impacts on health, livability, and economic distress caused that most acutely impact vulnerable communities.
Economy
Many factors contribute to a thriving economy. The gross domestic product, or GDP, is a measure of the total value of the goods and services produced in the area. Other metrics add to the story too. We also track household employment, the vitality of new business, the region’s educational attainment, and the rate of people moving to King County, among other numbers.
What are we seeing?
GDP growth drivers have taken a recent downturn with decreasing new private sector establishments, postsecondary completion rate, and # of people moving to King County.
However, facilitating economic growth is a decreasing change in weekday traffic delay.
Economic vitality remains challenging for small businesses with decreasing change in small business employment.
Change in GDP (%)
Year-over-year percentage change in Gross Domestic Product in millions of current dollars (not adjusted for inflation) for all industries, in King County.
Why is this metric important?
Expansion of economic activity benefits our region's businesses and creates opportunities for all residents to participate in that growth.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis
Change in Small Business Employment (%)
Year-over-year percentage change in small business employment index in Seattle.
Why is this metric important?
A vibrant and diverse small business sector creates opportunities for new ventures to grow into medium and large businesses, and insulates the region from sector-specific shocks.
Source: Paychex
New Private Sector Establishments (%)
Survival rate of private sector establishments after one year in Washington State.
Why is this metric important?
Successful new businesses promote opportunities for entrepreneurship and innovation and are a particularly good vehicle for household wealth accumulation.
Source: BLS
Change in Loans to Businesses Less Than $1M In Revenue (%)
Year-over-year percentage change in amount of loans to businesses <$1M in revenue in King County.
Why is this metric important?
Efficient flow of capital into small businesses promotes a vibrant and diverse commercial sector and provides greater opportunity for entrepreneurship and innovation.
Source: FFIEC
Postsecondary Education Rate (%)
Percentage of population age 25+ in King County with some college or associate's degree or higher.
Why is this metric important?
Residents with postsecondary degrees have better job prospects and higher earning potential than those without.
Source: ACS
*Interpret AI/AN and NHPI percentages with caution since there are small sample sizes. These were included to ensure representation.
Number of People Moving to King County (in Thousands)
Population who moved to King County from another county, state, or country.
Why is this metric important?
Migration into our region provides a deeper pool of talent for businesses to employ, and indicates a region that is attractive to outsiders.
Source: ACS
*Interpret AI/AN and NHPI percentages with caution since there are small sample sizes. These were included to ensure representation.
Change in Weekday Traffic Delay (%)
Year-over-year percentage change to average daily weekday delay in general purpose lanes on freeway corridors for King and Snohomish counties.
Why is this metric important?
Freeway congestion restricts the efficient flow of physical goods, increases commute times, and causes pollution.
Source: WSDOT
Democracy
A strong democracy relies on the activity of many individuals. Our key metric here is voter participation rates. We also look at neighborhood participation rates and the rate at which people contact a local official.
What are we seeing?
Voter participation rates were primarily driven by decreases in white voting rates, as POC rates increased by 3.0%, and disproportionality of participation by these groups drives overall participation rate down
Overall neighbor participation rate and people contacting public officials increased, signaling greater civic engagement and sense of belonging
These increases were most significant among POC, with neighbor participation rate increasing +21% (compared to +16% for whites) and contacting officials increasing +7% (compared to +2% for whites)
Voter Participation Rate (%)
Percentage of population in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Area that voted in local elections sometimes or always.
Why is this metric important?
Broader participation in elections results in more representative government, policies that reflect the will of the region's residents, and promotes greater civic engagement.
Source: National Conference on Citizenship - Data directly provided by NCoC, Seattle City Club, and 2019 provided by CPS
Neighbor Participation Rate (%)
Percentage of population in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Area that did something positive for their neighborhood or the community.
Why is this metric important?
Connection with neighbors increases an individual's sense of belonging and builds civic engagement. Communities that are more connected are more resilient to change.
Source: National Conference on Citizenship - Data directly provided by NCoC, Seattle City Club, and 2019 provided by CPS
ComMUNICATED WITH PUBLIC OFFICIAL (%)
Percentage of population in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Area that contacted or visited a public official.
Why is this metric important?
Accessing power to share perspectives or try to influence policy are critical elements of well-functioning democratic practices.
Sources: National Conference on Citizenship - Data directly provided by NCoC, Seattle City Club, and 2019 provided by CPS