WELL-BEING IN RURAL CALIFORNIA 2023

RELEASED JUNE 29, 2023

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Well-Being in Rural California 2023 paints a picture of well-being and access to opportunity across race, place, and gender in rural California today. Using the American Human Development Index (HDI), this report presents how residents in rural California are doing on three key dimensions of well-being—a long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and a decent standard of living. Broken down by race and ethnicity, by gender, and by census tract, the index shows how communities are faring relative to one another and to the state and country as a whole. The report found that stark variation exists by place and by demographic group—resulting in significant inequalities across rural areas.

Well-Being in Rural California is part of a larger project, A Portrait of California 2021–2022, which explores well-being in the state as a whole, with a special focus on housing.

The HDI is expressed on a scale from zero to ten, with ten indicating higher levels of well-being across health, education, and standard of living. Rural California as a whole scores 4.84, falling significantly below the California statewide score of 5.85. Of the two racial and ethnic groups for whom it is possible to calculate HDI scores, white residents score 5.45 and Latino residents score 3.89. 

Among census tracts in rural California, HDI scores range from a low of 1.79 in Census Tract 83.01 in Fresno County to a high of 8.47 in Census Tract 6136 in San Mateo County. Most higher-scoring rural tracts can be found in the mid-coast to northern region of the state; they tend to be predominantly white and affluent. The lower-scoring tracts are predominantly inland; seven of the lowest-scoring tracts lie in the Central Valley and three lie in California’s far north.

SELECT FINDINGS:

HEALTH:

• The average life expectancy in rural California is 79.8 years, compared to 81.1 years in the state as a whole. A baby girl born today in rural California can expect to live 82.3 years, a baby boy, 77.5 years—a 4.8-year difference.

EDUCATION:

• A slightly higher share of rural adults ages 25 and older have not completed high school (17.4 percent) compared to state residents overall (15.8 percent). Similarly, two and a half percentage points separate rural California from the state in terms of school enrollment—76.0 percent versus 78.5 percent.
• The difference is much greater when it comes to postsecondary degree attainment: compared to state residents overall, significantly smaller shares of rural Californians have bachelor’s degrees (22.9 percent versus 35.2 percent) or graduate degrees (7.8 percent versus 13.3 percent).

LIVING STANDARDS:

• Median personal earnings in rural California are $33,900, about $8,000 less than in the state overall. Men outearn women by a large margin, $40,100 versus $28,000, a difference of $12,100. Though the sizes of the earnings gaps vary by race and ethnicity, women across rural California earn much less than men, a phenomenon also found in California and in the country as a whole.

SPOLIGHT ON DEL NORTE COUNTY

RELEASED JANUARY 16, 2023

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This Spotlight on Del Norte County, part of the Regional Report Series associated with A Portrait of California 2021–2022, paints a picture of well-being and access to opportunity across Del Norte County today. The Spotlight is an extensive study of well-being across race, place, and gender in this county. Using the American Human Development Index (HDI), this report presents how Del Norte County residents are doing on three key dimensions of well-being—a long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and a decent standard of living. Broken down by race and ethnicity, by gender, and by census tract, the index shows how communities across Del Norte County are faring relative to one another and to the state and country as a whole. The report found that stark variation exists by place and by demographic group—resulting in significant inequalities regionwide.

The HDI is expressed on a scale from zero to ten, with ten indicating higher levels of well-being across health, education, and standard of living. Del Norte County as a whole scores 4.17, falling significantly below the California statewide score of 5.85. Of the three racial and ethnic groups for whom it is possible to calculate an HDI score, white (4.90 out of 10) Del Norte residents have the highest levels of well-being, followed closely by Latino (4.60), with Native American (2.38) residents scoring considerably lower. Due to the small population sizes of the Asian, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, and Black populations in Del Norte, HDI score calculations are not possible for these groups.

The range of HDI scores by census tract in Del Norte County runs from a high of 5.38 in Census Tract 2.02, which includes much of the western parts of Del Norte County and towns such as French Hill, Idlewild, and Douglas Park, to a low of 2.56 in Census Tract 1.01, comprising mostly southern Crescent City.

SELECT FINDINGS:

HEALTH:

• The average life expectancy for residents of Del Norte County is 78.3 years, 2.7 years shorter than the state average. A baby girl born today in Del Norte can expect to live 80.8 years, nearly 5 years longer than a baby boy (76.1 years).

EDUCATION:

• Compared to the populations of California and the United States as a whole, adult residents of Del Norte are less likely to have earned high school diplomas and about half as likely to have earned bachelor’s degrees. While 79.7 percent of adults have at least a high school diploma, only 15.4 percent hold at least a bachelor’s degree and 5.9 percent hold a graduate degree
• Compared to boys and young men, girls and young women ages 3 to 24 have notably higher rates of enrollment in Del Norte (76.2 percent of females ages 3 to 24 are enrolled compared to 69.6 percent of males), and women enjoy an edge across all educational outcomes

LIVING STANDARDS:

• Median personal earnings in Del Norte are $30,200, about $9,700 less than in the state overall. Native American women have the lowest earnings of any race/gender combination in Del Norte County, $17,300. White men in Del Norte make more than double what Latina women earn: roughly $19,800 more. The gender gap between white men and white women comes out to $6,600 in annual earnings; the earnings gender gap between Latino men and women is $7,100 annually

SPOLIGHT ON MENDOCINO COUNTY

RELEASED JANUARY 16, 2023

FULL REPORT | LAUNCH SLIDES | LAUNCH WEBINAR | DOWNLOAD DATA

This Spotlight on Mendocino County, part of the Regional Report Series associated with A Portrait of California 2021–2022, paints a picture of well-being and access to opportunity across Mendocino County today. The Spotlight is an extensive study of well-being across race, place, and gender in this county. Using the American Human Development Index (HDI), this report presents how Mendocino County residents are doing on three key dimensions of well-being—a long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and a decent standard of living. Broken down by race and ethnicity, by gender, and by census tract, the index shows how communities across Mendocino County are faring relative to one another and to the state and country as a whole. The report found that stark variation exists by place and by demographic group—resulting in significant inequalities regionwide.

The HDI is expressed on a scale from zero to ten, with ten indicating higher levels of well-being across health, education, and standard of living. Mendocino County as a whole scores 4.53, falling significantly below the California statewide score of 5.85. Of the four racial and ethnic groups for whom it is possible to calculate an HDI score, Asian (5.71 out of 10) Mendocino residents have the highest levels of well-being, followed by white (5.37), Latino (4.71), and Native American (3.58) residents. The Black population in Mendocino County is about 600 people, which is too small to calculate a reliable HDI score. In California as a whole, the Black score is 4.44.

The range of HDI scores by census tract in Mendocino County runs from a high of 6.74 in Census Tract 117, which includes areas east of Ukiah including Regina Heights, Talmage, Vichy Springs, and the Guidiville Rancheria, to a low of 3.16 in Census Tract 115.02, which includes the northeastern section of Ukiah and Orrs Creek as well as Oak Manor.

SELECT FINDINGS:

HEALTH:

• The average life expectancy for residents of Mendocino County is 78.8 years, 2.3 years shorter than the state average. A baby girl born today in Mendocino can expect to live 82.4 years, 6.9 years longer than a baby boy (75.5 years).

EDUCATION:

• Compared to California as a whole, adult residents of Mendocino are slightly more likely to have graduated from high school and less likely to have earned bachelor’s degrees. While 86.7 percent of adults have at least a high school diploma, 24.0 percent hold at least a bachelor’s degree and 9.2 percent hold a graduate degree.
• Compared to boys and young men, girls and young women ages 3 to 24 have notably higher rates of enrollment in Mendocino (79.1 percent of females ages 3 to 24 are enrolled compared to 75.4 percent of males) and enjoy an edge across all educational outcomes—though this educational advantage is not reflected in their earnings.

LIVING STANDARDS:

• Median personal earnings in Mendocino are $28,500, about $11,400 less than in the state overall. The gender gap in earnings is persistent across the United States and California. For the state as a whole, women earn 73 cents for every dollar men earn. That pattern holds in Mendocino, where women earn 71 cents for every dollar men earn. This translates into a gap of $9,300 in annual earnings, as men earn $32,800 compared to $23,500 for women.

SPOTLIGHT ON DEL NORTE COUNTY & SPOTLIGHT ON MENDOCINO COUNTY

RELEASED JANUARY 16, 2023

Spotlight on Del Norte County and Spotlight on Mendocino County paint a picture of well-being and access to opportunity in Mendocino and Del Norte Counties today. The creation of the Spotlights was guided by an public servants, advocates, scholars, and nonprofit leaders from Del Norte and Mendocino Counties. These Spotlights are all part of a larger project, which explores well-being in the state as a whole, with a special focus on housing: A Portrait of California 2021–2022.

Using the American Human Development Index (HDI), these two Spotlights present how Mendocino County and Del Norte County residents are doing on three key dimensions of well-being—a long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and a decent standard of living. Broken down by race and ethnicity, by gender, and by census tract, the HDI shows how communities across Del Norte County and Mendocino County are faring relative to one another and to the state and country as a whole.

For media and all other inquiries, contact us at: contact@measureofamerica.org

December 14, 2018 — MarketWatch

December 14, 2018 — U.S. News & World Report

April 12, 2018 — The Nation

March 15, 2018 — CITY A.M.

February 27, 2018 — The Weather Network