While the rich detail and levels of disaggregation found within each Atlas indicator is an important and unique contribution of the Atlas in support of those working to build a more equitable city, it does not easily answer some of the bigger picture questions that arise, such as: How is my city doing on inclusive growth overall? Are we doing better on the growth part or inclusion part of the equation? What specific areas and indicators do we need to improve on to make progress on equitable growth? 

The Equity Index is a tool to better evaluate whether communities are seeing progress on racial inclusion and equitable growth across a variety of Atlas indicators. It is based on nine Atlas indicators and is comprised of two separate scores -- the Inclusion Score and the Prosperity Score. The Inclusion Score measures how the city is doing in terms of racial gaps across indicators, while the Prosperity Score measures how the city is doing in terms of the levels of indicator values for the overall population (i.e. for all racial/ethnic groups combined). The scores and overall index for each city are calculated based on a comparison with the largest 100 cities, and should not be compared to regions or states. The minimum possible value is 1 (needs most work) while the highest is 100 (top performer). However, it’s important to note that given how all value are derived in relative terms terms, even the top performer has room for improvement. Learn more.

The Inclusion Score measures how the city is doing compared with the largest 100 cities in terms of racial gaps across all nine indicators included in the Equity Index, considering six broad racial/ethnic groups of White, Black, Latino, Asian or Pacific Islander, Native American and Mixed/other populations. While we acknowledge that further disaggregation beyond broad race/ethnicity can be necessary to get a fuller and more nuanced view of equity, we believe the Inclusion Score provides a useful overview of racial equity in a city. Deeper disaggregation can be found by going to each indicator underlying the index. The minimum possible value is 1 (needs most work) while the highest is 100 (top performer). The Inclusion Score tells only of racial gaps across indicators and not how the city is doing overall. To understand how the city is doing in terms of the levels of indicator values for the overall population, see the Prosperity Score. Learn more.
 

The Prosperity Score measures how the city is doing compared with the largest 100 cities in terms of the levels of the nine indicators included in the equity index. The minimum possible value is 1 (needs most work) while the highest is 100 (top performer). The Prosperity Score for the overall population tells only of the level of prosperity across indicators for city as a whole, and not how the city is doing in terms of racial gaps. The prosperity score can be also observed by race/ethnicity and is comparable to the overall prosperity score in the city as well to the overall Prosperity Score and Prosperity Scores by race between cities. Examining the Prosperity Score by race illuminates how different groups are faring relative to the city as a whole across a variety of indicators. However, it does not quantify how the city is doing in terms of racial gaps in indicator values as a single score. For that, see the Inclusion Score. Learn more.