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Indicator: Involvement in Community Organizations

Data and Data Discussion provided by Communities Count

Figure 1: Percent of Adults Active in Community Organizations

Figure 2: Percent of Adults Active in Community, by Education

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Upstream Indicators
  •   Perceived Neighborhood Safety --- The average level of perceived neighborhood safety among King County residents in 2007 was not significantly different from 2001. Levels of perceived safety are not equal among regions or different populations.  (view data graph)
  •   Happiness --- Seattle ranked 45 out of 185 cities surveyed for emotional health in 2008. In 2009, Seattle ranked 83 out of 185 cities in emotional health. Seattle ranked 39 out 185 for Life Evaluation in 2008 and 35 in 2009.   (view data graph)
  •   Stress --- There was no significant increase or decrease in the average stress score for adults in King County between 2001 and 2004.   (view data graph)
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Downstream Indicators
  •   Voter Turnout --- General elections always have higher participation compared with primaries while presidential elections (2000 and 2004) provide the highest turnout among voters.  (view data graph)
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Related Goals

Involvement in neighborhood organizations gives people a sense of ownership in their communities, helping them feel connected to their physical and social environment.

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Sustainability Snapshot:

One measure of a community’s strength is citizen involvement in community activities. Working together for the common good of neighborhoods, faith communities, schools or a political cause creates civic responsibility and a sense of reciprocity. Social cohesiveness is increased through shared activities such as team sports and support of the arts. In King County, a high percentage of folks are involved in community organizations.

Sustainability Trend:

King County residents indicate they are very active in their communities. Responses remain largely unchanged from 2004 to 2007.

Data Discussion

The Indicator Defined

Percent of Adults Who Are Very or Somewhat Active in One or More Community Organizations King County. The 7 kinds of community involvement that were included in the survey were: political groups; civic groups; youth groups or youth sports teams; arts, culture, music or theatre groups; school or educational organizations; religious groups or organizations; or a neighborhood group or block organization.

Data Interpretation/Evaluation

Involvement in Community Organizations was measured by asking King County adults how actively they had participated in seven specific types of activities in the past 12 months. The number of activities was added for each respondent. In 2007, 85% of King County adults were “very active” or “somewhat active” in at least one organization in the community. Levels of community involvement did not differ significantly by region. (figure 1) The most commonly cited groups or activities in which people were involved, besides those asked about specifically, were chambers of commerce, community centers and groups, heritage organizations, homeowners associations, libraries and volunteer work.

People with a college education were more active than those with a high school education or less.(figure 2) There were no significant differences by age, race/ethnicity, gender or income.

Data Source and Limitations

Data was contributed by Communities Count (www.communitiescount.org).  The involvement in community organizations measures are from the King County Community Health Survey, 2004 & 2007.

Since these questions were asked and coded differently in 2007 and 2004 than in previous years, the data are not directly comparable with those from 1999 or 2001. 

The limitations of an English-only telephone survey include the following: a) people who do not have a telephone are missed, b) people who do not speak English do not participate, c) people who have less education and lower incomes tend to be under-represented.

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