DataHaven’s Hartford Foundation 2023 Equity Profile Highlights Region’s Challenges and Opportunities

New report highlights residents’ experiences related to employment, income, housing, and health
 

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is committed to supporting the availability of high quality, rigorous research to inform action on issues critical to the region as well as our own priorities, strategies, and operations. As a part of this commitment, the Foundation sponsored  an equity report produced by DataHaven covering the 29 towns served by the Hartford Foundation. This report includes resident experiences on a wide variety of key issues including education, employment, income, housing, health, access to services, amenities, and other quality of life indicators.

The 2023 Hartford Foundation Equity Profile is designed to inform local-level efforts to improve community wellbeing and racial equity. This report corresponds with DataHaven's Town Equity Reports, which disaggregate data for each of the state’s 169 towns.  The reports leverage information from the 2020 Census, American Community Survey microdata files, DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey record-level files, and federal and state agencies to create relevant town-level information that is not available from any other source. The report for the Hartford Foundation area is based on DataHaven's analysis of data for each town the Foundation supports.

As of 2020, the population of the Hartford Foundation service area is 760,475, including 156,885 children and 603,590 adults. Forty-two percent of the Hartford Foundation area’s residents are people of color, compared to 37 percent of residents statewide.

“Many of the indicators included in the report demonstrate how recent socio-economic events as well as a history of structural racism and discrimination have affected our neighbors’ wellbeing and produced disparate outcomes along racial, ethnic, and income dimensions.” said Kate Szczerbacki, the Hartford Foundation’s Director of Strategic Learning and Evaluation. “This high-quality report is emblematic of DataHaven’s 30 years of public service (While progress is being made, there is still much more to do to make our systems and communities equitable for all residents. We are grateful to our partners DataHaven and this high-quality report is emblematic of the 30 years of public service they have provided our state.”

View or download the report here

The report can also be found on our Publications page.

Key findings include:

Income and Wealth

• In the Hartford Foundation area, the average median household annual income is $82,000; white households have an average annual income of $96,000, Black households have an average annual income of $56,000 and Latino households have an average annual income of $45,000.
  • The average individual earnings (as of 2021) are $76,000 for men and $61,000 for women.
  • The average median earnings are $84,000 for white men and $70,000 for white women.
  • The average median earnings are $53,000 for Black men and $47,000 for Black women.
  • The average median earnings are $44,000 for Latino men and $39,000 for Latino women.
• Eleven percent of all households live below the poverty level, with 13 percent receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
  • Six percent of white households live below the poverty level with six percent receiving SNAP benefits.
  • Seventeen percent of Black households live below the poverty level with 23 percent receiving SNAP benefits.
  • Twenty-three percent of Latino households live below the poverty level with 38 percent receiving SNAP benefits.
  • Eight percent of Asian households live below the poverty level with eight percent receiving SNAP benefits.

Housing

Of the 302,137 households in the Hartford Foundation geographic area, 66 percent own their home. Home ownership rates vary measurably by race/ethnicity. Owning a home is more attainable for advantaged groups because the homebuying process has a long history of racially discriminatory practices that continue to restrict access to homeownership today. This challenge, coupled with municipal zoning dominated by single-family housing, results in de facto racial and economic segregation seen throughout Connecticut.

In the Hartford Foundation area:

• Seventy-eight percent of white households own homes
• Fifty-five percent of Asian households own homes
• Forty-four percent of Black households own homes
• Thirty-four percent of Latino households own homes.

A household is cost burdened when they spend 30 percent or more of their income on housing costs, and severely cost-burdened when they spend 50 percent or more of their income on housing costs. Cost-burden often affects renters more than homeowners and has greater impact on Black and Latino householders.

Among households in the Hartford Foundation’s geographic area, 47 percent of renters are cost-burdened, compared to 25 percent of homeowners. In the Foundation’s area, 32 percent of all households are cost burdened, with 15 percent being severely cost burdened. Black and Latino households tend to be more cost burdened than white or Asian households.

English Proficiency

Linguistic isolation is characterized as speaking English less than “very well.” People who struggle with English proficiency may have difficulty in school, seeking health care, accessing social services, or finding work in a largely English-speaking community.

As of 2021, 56,675 Hartford Foundation area residents, or 8 percent of the population ages 5 and older, have limited English proficiency. Latinos (26 percent) and Asian Americans (25 percent) are more likely to have limited English proficiency than other racial/ethnic groups.

Health

Socioeconomic disparities tend to correlate with health outcomes. Factors such as stable housing,

employment, literacy and linguistic fluency, environmental hazards, and transportation all impact access to care, physical and mental health outcomes, and overall quality of life. Income and employment status often drive differences in access to healthcare, the likelihood of getting preventive care, the affordability of medicines, and the ability to purchase other goods and services, including nutritious food.

In the Hartford Foundation’s geographic area, 59 percent of respondents self-reported being in good health, including 61 percent of white respondents, 50 percent of Black respondents, 54 percent of Latino respondents, and 71 percent of Asian respondents. Food insecurity has also been on the rise particularly among Black and Latino households.

Mental Health

Mental health issues like depression and anxiety can be linked to social determinants like income, employment, and environment, and can pose risks of physical health problems by complicating a person’s ability to keep up with other aspects of their health care. People of color are more likely to report feeling mostly or completely anxious and feeling depressed or hopeless.

Civic Life and Community Cohesion

Beyond individual health, several measures from the DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey show how adults feel about the health of their neighborhoods. Quality of life and community cohesion can positively impact resident wellbeing through the availability of resources, sense of safety, and participation in civic life. Hartford residents consistently voiced concerns about the quality of their neighborhoods when compared to the region overall.

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for Hartford and 28 surrounding towns. Through partnerships, the Foundation seeks to strengthen communities in Greater Hartford by putting philanthropy in action to dismantle structural racism and achieve equity in social and economic mobility. Made possible by the gifts of generous individuals, families and organizations, the Foundation has awarded grants of more than $948 million since its founding in 1925. For more information, visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888.