Dear Get Healthy Partners,

Last time I wrote, I discussed how data can make an impact and what resources Get Healthy San Mateo County (GHSMC) has coming down the pipeline to equip our partners with data. I am very excited to share that GHSMC has just expanded our data portal with more social, environmental, economic, and health indicators!

This is a resource that has been in the works since last summer, and we hope this tool can empower you to learn more about your community and take evidence-driven action to promote health equity. You can explore a multitude of data with interactive maps and charts for six different topics, including our four key priorities: Healthy Housing, Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Schools, and Healthy Economy, as well as Demographics and Health data.

This data can be used to support your work through a variety of ways. Community-based organizations can identify high-need neighborhoods and prioritize their target populations, city staff can compare how neighboring cities are doing, community members can gather evidence to help voice their concerns to elected officials, and more. Demonstrate why your issues matter by supporting your message with data. Data can be a powerful tool for raising awareness.

What’s new? Be sure to check out all the recent indicators we’ve added to the data portal, such as jobs-housing fit, access to parks, student participation in free or reduced price meals, and income inequality. There are new indicators to explore in every topic area.

Our data portal expansion includes more ways to look at health equity in San Mateo County. You can now map indicators by census tract, city, or school district by toggling between the different geography tabs. Explore different areas in the county by zooming into the map or clicking directly on the map for more detailed data. Compare places and find out information like Woodside’s unemployment rate ( 3%),compared to East Palo Alto ( 12%).

You can also break down county-level data by race/ethnicity, educational attainment, poverty, and income. Under each indicator, click on the chart tab to see how different socioeconomic groups compare. There are plenty of facts to learn, such as 84% of households that earn between $35,000-$49,000 experience rent burden compared to just 6% of households that earn $100,000 or more.

We at GHSMC are constantly searching for new data and ways to improve our portal to help advance healthy, equitable communities. We will continue adding more indicators and additional ways to explore data. If you have any suggestions (or questions), feel free to get in touch with me. I would love to hear from you and work together to use data to advance health for all in San Mateo County!