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Civic Health in Florida

Participation in civic life is at the heart of democratic governance and vibrant, healthy communities. This site is your tool to monitor civic participation in Florida and its communities. To help you better understand Florida, the site allows you to compare Florida and Florida's cities to other states and cities across the nation. Our goal is to support your efforts to improve Florida's civic health.

Florida's Civic Health Compared to the National Average

2015-2016

Florida's Civic Health Compared to the National Average Chart

Measuring Civic Health

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Current Population Survey

Data provided on this site are from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of about 60,000 households conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The CPS annually administers three supplement surveys related to civic engagement and civic health; the Voting Supplement, Volunteering Supplement, and Civic Engagement Supplement. The supplements gather data on the civic activities of individuals age 18 and over and on the volunteering activities of individuals age 16 and older.

What Do We Measure?

Civic activities reported here include membership in civic organizations, donating to charitable organizations, boycotting or buying a product for social/political reasons, attending public meetings, contacting public officials, working with neighbors to fix a community problem and volunteering. Data from the Voting Supplement shows the percentage of individuals who voted in the last election and the percentage of individuals who did not vote, but were registered to vote.

You can click on the Compare page to see how Florida measures up against other states on each civic health indicator and how Florida MSAs compare to the rest of the nation.

Graphs

Florida MSA Trends and Highlights

Small Metro Areas

Population < 250,000

  • 3
    Gainesville, FL*
    Contacted or Visited a Public Official (26.8%)
  • 3
    Punta Gorda, FL
    Membership in a Community Organization (29.8%)
  • 20
    Panama City-Lynn Haven, FL
    Attended a Public Meeting (12.3%)
  • 15
    Panama City-Lynn haven, FL
    Worked with Neighbors to Fix a Community Problem (14%)

Medium Metro Areas

Population 250,000-999,999

  • 18
    Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL
    Contacted or Visited a Public Official (17%)
  • 6
    Tallahassee,FL
    Bought or Boycotted a Product for Social or Political Reasons (32.4%)
  • 2
    Tallahassee,FL
    Membership in a Civic Organization (25%)
  • 6
    Tallahassee,FL
    Attended a Public Meeting (17%)
  • 15
    Port St. Lucie-Fort Pierce, FL
    Attended a Public Meeting (12.9%)

Large Metro Areas

Population 1,000,000 or more

  • 5
    Jacksonville, FL
    Membership in Civic Organization (11.1%)
  • 18
    Orlando-Kissimmee
    Contacted or Visited a Public Official (11.5%)
  • 28
    Jacksonville, FL
    Volunteering (23.7%)
  • 16
    Jacksonville, FL
    Attended a Public Meeting (9.5%)

*2013 data, Gainesville, FL MSA increased in population and was therefore coded as a medium size metro area in 2015