BERKELEY, CA: UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute has released a new tool designed to track progress and setbacks for Black residents at the municipal level across recent decades. The dashboard highlights disparities in key areas such as education, income, health, and other critical life outcomes.
The Racial Disparities Dashboard provides an accessible, interactive platform that allows researchers, journalists, policymakers, and community members to explore where Black residents have made gains and where inequities persist compared to white residents. Covering the two decades from 2000 through 2023, the tool is intended both to illustrate how data can be used to measure racial disparities and to support partnerships with organizations seeking to translate insights into on-the-ground action.
The first two cities featured are San Francisco and Philadelphia. Both rank among the 20 most populous U.S. cities, with San Francisco representing the West Coast and Philadelphia the East. By starting with cities of different geographies and contexts, we aim to demonstrate that the dashboard’s methods are adaptable across diverse local settings. Both cities are consolidated city–counties, which is important because many data sources—particularly in public health—are only available at the county level. This allows us to assess disparities across a broader range of outcomes.
The dashboards for these two cities serve as a window into the issue areas where racial disparities can be tracked and how cities have progressed or regressed in these areas over time. While these two cities display racial disparities between Black and white residents, we are equipped to measure racial disparities between any two racial groups for any specified time period. Our two case studies reveal patterns consistent with the national dashboard, particularly in the economic domain. Despite differences in geography and demographics, both San Francisco and Philadelphia share troubling disparities in health outcomes. Importantly, the fact that both cities received grades spanning the full range demonstrates that our grading framework is flexible and can be applied across diverse contexts. We encourage users to explore the dashboard and invite community organizations to partner with us in developing customized versions tailored to their own needs.
Acknowledgments
This project was a joint effort with contributions from the Equity Metrics team, the Communications team, and leadership under Stephen Menendian. The project was conceived and led by Stephen Menendian, with the methodology designed and refined by Stephen Menendian and Samir Gambhir. Data collection was conducted by Zoe Baker, our 2025 Summer Fellow, through programming. The dashboard design and visual implementation were carried out by Eve Liao, building on the compiled data and methodology.
