A Portrait of Sonoma County: 2021 Update, a follow-up to our 2014 report, paints a picture of well-being and access to opportunity in Sonoma County today, identifies areas of positive change, and draws attention to both new and persistent challenges. Like the 2014 report, this edition was guided by an advisory group of Sonoma County organizations and individuals. It 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. Using the American Human Development Index (HDI), this report presents how Sonomans 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 Sonoma County are faring relative to one another and to the state and country as a whole.

The severe wildfire seasons of recent years coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic altered aspects of Sonoma County residents’ lives almost beyond recognition, leading to displacement, job loss, educational disruption, significant mental health challenges, and increased deaths due not just to the coronavirus but also to drug overdose. But some of the challenges of 2021 echo those of 2014: an even worse affordable-housing shortage, economic insecurity, and disproportionate harm falling on communities of color. Though the years since the publication of the 2014 report saw heartening improvement in some indicators of well-being and a narrowing of the gaps between different places and populations, including more people with health insurance and fewer people living in poverty, deep-rooted challenges and new problems alike demand attention and action.

Connect to the County of Sonoma here: https://upstreaminvestments.org/Impact/Portrait-of-Sonoma–County/

A Portrait of Sonoma County: 2021 Update, a follow-up to our 2014 report, paints a picture of well-being and access to opportunity in Sonoma County today, identifies areas of positive change, and draws attention to both new and persistent challenges. Like the 2014 report, this edition was guided by an advisory group of Sonoma County organizations and individuals. It 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. Using the American Human Development Index (HDI), this report presents how Sonomans 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 Sonoma County are faring relative to one another and to the state and country as a whole.

The severe wildfire seasons of recent years coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic altered aspects of Sonoma County residents’ lives almost beyond recognition, leading to displacement, job loss, educational disruption, significant mental health challenges, and increased deaths due not just to the coronavirus but also to drug overdose. But some of the challenges of 2021 echo those of 2014: an even worse affordable-housing shortage, economic insecurity, and disproportionate harm falling on communities of color. Though the years since the publication of the 2014 report saw heartening improvement in some indicators of well-being and a narrowing of the gaps between different places and populations, including more people with health insurance and fewer people living in poverty, deep-rooted challenges and new problems alike demand attention and action.

Connect to the County of Sonoma here: https://upstreaminvestments.org/Impact/Portrait-of-Sonoma–County/