Data Evaluation and Impact

The Portrait of Sonoma

The Portrait of Sonoma County: 2021 Update report is a follow-up to the groundbreaking 2014 A Portrait of Sonoma County report.

Taken as a whole, the updated report shows that people in Sonoma County live longer, earn more money, stay in school and earn college degrees at higher rates than in other counties across California and the United States.

Yet the report also reveals that health and well-being continues to vary widely for many people and neighborhoods in Sonoma County.

Acknowledgements:

The Portrait of Sonoma County: 2021 Update was commissioned by the County of Sonoma’s Department of Health Services and Human Services Upstream Investments through a collaborative effort with Measure of America and the Social Science Research Council. It was made possible thanks to Community Foundation Sonoma County and the Peter E. Haas Jr. Family Fund, as well as support from Career Technical Education Foundation, First 5 Sonoma County, Healthcare Foundation Northern Sonoma County, John Jordan Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, Petaluma Health Care District, Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation, Sonoma County Office of Education, Providence St. Joseph’s, Sutter Health, and United Way of the Wine Country.

An advisory panel of eminent public servants, advocates, scholars, and nonprofit leaders from across Sonoma County contributed their expertise to guide this work. Julie Burns and Daniela Guanipa helped to translate this Portrait into Spanish and Bob Land proofread and edited the portrait.

Key Findings:

Southwest Santa Rosa community leaders participated in a Freedom Dreamers Circle in May 2022, kicking off community input for a new Agenda for Action (Photo courtesy of On the Margins)

  • Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), and immigrant and undocumented community members persistently scored lower than other populations.

  • The Black community experienced the largest decline in HDI scores since 2014, while scores for Latinos have increased.

  • Latino, Native American, and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Island residents of Sonoma County have the lowest median personal earnings among the major racial and ethnic groups, about $29,000, $29,000, and $26,000, respectively.

  • 3 percent of Black youth are enrolled in school compared to 77.1 percent of Latino youth and 87.8 percent of Asian youth.

  • The percentage of students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) — a plan that lays out the special education instruction, support and services a student with an identified disability needs to thrive in school — has increased in the Sonoma Valley Unified School District.

  • While the gap between neighborhoods with highest and lowest life expectancy has narrowed since the 2014 report, people living in the highest-scoring neighborhood, East Bennett Valley, still live 8.7 years longer than those in lowest-scoring Roseland neighborhoods.