How often are people visiting your neighborhood library? How many local news sources does your community have? These factors are among a range of indicators that the Civic Information Index shares to help explore civic health in counties across the U.S.
Listening Post Collective created the Index with MacArthur support, and uses data like library visits, voter participation, food and housing insecurity, volunteering, medical debt, and local news sources, to create an overall Index score. The indicators fall under five pillars: News and Information, Civic Participation, Equity and Justice, Health and Opportunity, and, new this year, Environmental Resilience. Users can explore the map of the U.S., compare counties, and download the Index data as they consider what makes up civic health.
