Race and Ethnicity in Data: A Closer Look at the City Health Dashboard

How we Categorize Race and Ethnicity at the Dashboard

Race and ethnicity data are presented in two main ways on the Dashboard: by showing the distribution of some metrics by race and ethnicity, and by displaying the percentages of the city population who report being members of different race and ethnicity groups in the City Overview section.

The first place race and ethnicity data are available for some metrics is in the Demographic Detail view.

There, where data on some metrics are available for the following groups: Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic, Other, and White. Asian is comprised of both Asian and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (NHOPI) subgroups, and Other is comprised of American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN), Other, and the ‘Two or more races’ subgroups.

We are currently working with our partners to explore providing data for more specific categories within the Other subgroup. Definitions of each race and ethnicity group from the U.S. Census, the primary source of our race and ethnicity data, are available here and the full race and ethnicity categorization list can be found here.

The tables below present more detailed information about how race and ethnicity are defined for each metric on the Dashboard.

Demographic Details for Children in Poverty in 2023, St. Paul, MN

The second place that the Dashboard provides race and ethnicity data is in the City Overview section. Here, more detailed breakdowns are available because these data are general population data (i.e. not related to specific metric estimates) available from the U.S. Census American Community Survey and tend to have fewer missing data.¹ For example, the Dashboard presents data on the percentage of the population that self-reports as identifying as Asian in each city, and within that the percentage that is specifically East Asian, and within that the estimated percentage that is Japanese. Learn more about the City Overview demographic maps here.

Demographic Map for St. Paul, MN

Demographic Overview Table for St. Paul, MN

For Asian, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander groups and their more detailed subgroups, the Dashboard presents data that includes people who may also identify with another race. While these detailed subgroups are often small, including people who identify with more than one race allows for maximum inclusivity and data availability. The Dashboard also provides a ‘Two or more races’ category, which includes people who select more than one race or self-identify as multiracial. These groups are not mutually exclusive. For example, if someone identifies as Filipino and White they would be included in the a) Asian category, b) the Filipino subgroup of Asian, and c) Two or more races category. They would not be included in the White category, as the Dashboard presents a definition of White that only includes White alone.

An ‘Other race alone’ category is also presented on the Dashboard’s demographic overview pages. This group includes people who self-identified only as Other, and anyone who identified as: Aborigines, Aruban, Aryan, Belizean, Bermudan, Brazilian, Cabo Verdean, Caribbean, Cayman Islander, Comorian, Creole, Guyanese, Indian, Indigenous, Mauritanian, North American, Other Caribbean or South American, Surinamese, and Turkic.

Additionally, it is important to note that Hispanic ethnicity is often asked as a separate question, meaning that a person can identify as Hispanic in addition to another race. The Dashboard generally follows the Census’ convention of presenting a category of ‘White, Non-Hispanic or Latino’, whereas other race groups can be inclusive of individuals who identify as Hispanic or Latino. When data includes people of Hispanic ethnicity as members of a race category, such individuals will contribute both to the Hispanic estimate and to the race category estimate. For example, if someone identified as Hispanic and Asian, they would be included in both the Hispanic and Asian categories. Notably, anyone who responds to the race question that they are Hispanic is counted as “Other” race as well as Hispanic.^2,3,4

City Overview and Data Demographic Breakdowns

The Dashboard team understands that data has the power to drive change, and that reporting racial and ethnic data can contribute to positive change. The team is currently investigating ways to further improve how race and ethnicity data are presented on the City Health Dashboard:

• Exploring Dashboard metrics that can be disaggregated into more specific race categories; and,

• Improving language to help users better understand how race and ethnicity groups are defined, and who they represent.

The Dashboard team seeks to continue consulting with and learning from website users, community members and other experts – to adapt practices to best meet users’ data needs. We hope our efforts and those of other organizations to improve race and ethnicity data reporting will eventually lead to datasets that more accurately represent individuals and populations, and in turn ultimately help communities and policymakers improve health for all.

References

1. United State Census Bureau. (2023, September 21). Census Bureau Releases 2020 Census Data for Nearly 1,500 Detailed Race and Ethnicity Groups, Tribes and Villages [Press release]. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/2020-census-detailed-dhc-file-a.html

2. Gonzalez-Barrera, A., & Lopez, M. (2015). Is being Hispanic a matter of race, ethnicity or both? Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/06/15/is-being-hispanic-a-matter-of-race-ethnicity-or-both/

3. Parker, K., Horowitz., Morin, R., Lopez, M. (2015). The Many Dimensions of Hispanic Racial Identity. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2015/06/11/chapter-7-the-many-dimensions-of-hispanic-racial-identity/

4. Noe-Bustamante, L., Gonzalez-Barrera, A., Edwards, K., Mora, L., Lopez, M. (2021). Measuring the racial identity of Latinos. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2021/11/04/measuring-the-racial-identity-of-latinos/