Dear Atlas users,

From climate change to Covid-19, low-income people and communities of color have been the most impacted by crises — and recovery efforts that exclude them deepen inequities. Despite some progress, many Bay Area residents have yet to fully recover. The Bay Area Equity Atlas is committed to partnering with communities and advocates to ensure that the region's recovery creates a different future — one where prosperity is broadly shared, and the region’s working-class people and people of color have good jobs, dignified and rising standards of living, and can prosper. Explore the latest Atlas research and updates:

Tracking the Bay Area's Progress Toward an Equitable Recovery

We developed a new tool — Bay Area Recovery Tracker — to monitor the nine-county region’s progress toward an inclusive and equitable recovery. The tracker, which draws from a mix of data sources, provides a real-time snapshot of how communities are faring across 16 unique indicators, ranging from access to remote work, households behind on rent, and public school enrollment rates. It features disaggregated data across three focus areas (economic security and prosperity, housing justice, and healthy communities of opportunity) and three levels (regional, county, and zip code). To learn more about this new tool and post-Covid recovery in the Bay Area, read this overview and explore regional trends.

Mapping Patterns of Segregation Across the Bay Area

In case you missed it: we released an analysis on racial and economic segregation across the Bay Area. The maps featured within the analysis show where the largest racial, geographic, and income divides exist across the region. Our research underscores that deep and persistent pockets of both white wealth and Black, Latinx, and Asian American poverty persist in the Bay Area, despite the region’s diversity and progressivism. To provide deeper analysis, we created city-level maps for Alameda, Berkeley, Concord, and Oakland, which can inform the process of updating local housing elements.

In Focus: Are People Leaving the Bay Area?

Abbie Langston, the director of equitable economy at PolicyLink, joined other experts on KQED Newsroom to weigh in on shifting population trends in the Bay Area. During the conversation, she called attention to the racial and economic inequities that undergird the shifts, particularly the skyrocketing cost of housing that has disproportionately harmed Black people living in the region. Watch a recording of the segment. To learn more about how the region's racial and ethnic demographics have changed since 2000, click here.

Register Now: Atlas Training Session

The Atlas contains 23 equity indicators for 272 geographies across the nine-county region, along with policy strategies, case studies, and resources. On October 18, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. PT, the San Francisco Foundation will host a training session for those interested in learning how to use the Atlas. Jennifer Tran and Simone Robbenolt of PolicyLink will share an overview of the Atlas, how people are using it, and how it can support Bay Area advocates in advancing equity. Trainees will also hear from Irene Rojas-Carroll of Bay Rising about how the organization has used data from the Atlas to inform and bolster its efforts. Register for the session.

Atlas in the News

Our data and insights have informed pieces in several news outlets, including San Francisco Chronicle, East Bay Times, Bay City News, and KQED. For more, check out the complete list of our media coverage.

Thank you,

Bay Area Equity Atlas team

Dear Atlas users,

While top-line measures indicate that the US economy has largely bounced back from the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of workers and families across the nation are still reeling. In Detroit, Michigan, local leaders are working across sectors to co-create solutions that advance equity for workers and ensure that families can thrive. The National Equity Atlas remains committed to providing actionable insights and support to those working to ensure racial equity is at the forefront of recovery efforts. Here are more updates:

New Research Reveals that Black Workers Have Borne the Brunt of Metro Detroit’s Inequitable Labor Market and Uneven Economic Growth

In the years following the Great Recession, Metro Detroit showed promise of a strong economic rebound. But our report, produced in partnership with the Detroit Area Workforce Funders Collaborative, illustrates how long-standing racial gaps in income and employment have impacted the region’s workforce and economy: The region has a shortfall of good jobs that do not require a college degree and only 29 percent of the region’s workers hold good jobs. And despite the growing diversity of the region's workforce, workers of color remain crowded in lower paying and lower opportunity occupational groups, while white workers are overrepresented in many higher paying professions. Our research indicates that eliminating racial inequities in employment and wages could boost Detroit’s regional economy by about $28 billion a year. Download the full report — and explore the other regional analyses in our Advancing Workforce Equity project.

Prop 22 Undermines the Pay, Benefits, and Autonomy of California Rideshare Drivers

In their campaign for Prop 22, rideshare companies promised drivers good pay, benefits, and flexibility. But our analysis of real driver data — developed in partnership with Rideshare Drivers United (RDU) — reveals that the law has given these companies a free pass to deny their drivers critical rights and protections. As a result, the average net earnings of rideshare drivers in California are just $6.20 per hour under Prop 22. If rideshare companies were forced to respect drivers’ labor rights, they would earn an average of three times more per hour. Explore more findings in the report.

Atlas in the News

Over the last month, our study with RDU received significant media coverage, which was featured in MarketWatch, WIRED, Tech Times, Mission Local. For more, explore the archive of our news coverage.

- The National Equity Atlas Team at PolicyLink and the USC Equity Research Institute (ERI)