Community Indicators

Community Indicators are key measures that help assess the well-being and progress of a community. They provide insight into important areas such economic opportunity, education, health, housing, transportation, and environment. By tracking these indicators over time, community leaders, policymakers, and residents can better understand local condition and make more informed decisions about policy and program interventions.

The indicators presented through ACT Rochester are organized according to the Urban Institute’s Upward Mobility Framework. This framework defines upward mobility as more than just economic success; it also requires people to have power and autonomy over their lives and to experience dignity and belonging in their communities. The indicators on this site are grouped within the framework’s interconnected pillars, highlighting the many factors that influence upward mobility and the role communities play in supporting residents’ ability to thrive.  

Important things to note about the indicators:

• All indicators are presented in three ways:  

  • As a chart to compare geographies side-by-side using the most recent year of available data 

  • As a trend to track changes in an indicator over time for a selected geography 

  • As a map to visualize how outcomes vary across communities throughout the region  

• The margin or error (MOE) is presented alongside each value and indicated with gray bars. Smaller margins of error imply a greater likelihood that the estimate is close to the true value. With this in mind, we have excluded (suppressed) data with a margin of error that is greater than 50 percent. Read more about our methodology here.

• Census data has a nearly two-year lag time.

• You can always download the data directly into Excel.

Additionally, please go to the Resources section in the main menu other data sources, including Census data tools.