Co-authored by Annie Robinson, Senior Communications Coordinator, CityHealth Dashboard
Today, data are ubiquitous, considered an essential component of organizational decision-making, grant applications and other essential aspects of work in public service. But city leaders rarely receive formal training on how to interpret, use and communicate about data effectively, leaving municipal leaders without a crucial tool in the work they do to help communities. At the same time, people across the country are asking their elected leaders for transparency in how they use data to guide governing decisions.
Additional constraints can interfere with cities’ ability to leverage data. Municipal data are often dispersed and can be challenging to aggregate for use in informed policymaking. Even when cities have strong, reliable data representing their communities, many municipal governments struggle with limited staff capacity for analyzing the data.
Common Barriers to Using Data in City Policy Work
- Lack of clarity as to what types of data exist for a municipality.
- Limited staff capacity to work with data due to budgetary constraints.
- Administrative data are often siloed in different municipal departments.
- Lack of time to work with data.
- Identifying the right metrics to use for policy work can be challenging; finding a starting place can be difficult.
- Administrative data are often messy and not meant for policy analysis.
Existing Tools
Fortunately, resources exist that can help city leaders grapple with these challenges. One example is the City Health Dashboard, a free, user-friendly tool that empowers cities with accessible, reliable data. The Dashboard’s data team does the heavy lifting, aggregating and validating federal datasets. As one municipal leader says:
“The City Health Dashboard has given us an amazing opportunity to determine what might be the underlying causes of emergencies and target them with our prevention efforts. The metrics provided by the Dashboard allow us to focus in on these communities and determine exactly what factors need to be addressed to change outcomes for these high-frequency EMS response demographics.”
– Gary A. Menard, Fire Captain for Decatur, Ga. Fire Rescue
Small Steps Toward Integrating Data Into Your Work
With resources like these, you can take small steps toward data-driven action. Here are suggested starting points:
1. Explore Your City’s Data on City Health Dashboard
- Identify a challenge in your city that’s impacted by or related to a health outcome; check out the Dashboard’s Data Playbook (PDF) for guidance and tips on how to define a problem and plan next steps.
- Join City Health Dashboard’s virtual office hours or reach out to their team for 1:1 data support.
- If your city is not already on the Dashboard (cities <50,000 residents), apply to the “Put Us on the Map” Challenge.
2. Engage in Deeper Learning to Ensure That You’re Understanding Data Correctly and Making the Most of It
- Sign up for NLCU courses like the Data Literacy 101 course for a quick primer in how to interpret data for policymaking.
- Take a course like NLCU’s Data Literacy 102 for a deeper dive into what data are available for your city and how to use those data to identify key policy levers.
3. If Your Question is Not Related to Health and the Factors That Drive Health, Explore Our Data Resources for Information About Your City on Various Topics
Such as:
- Opportunities to improve public transportation to community colleges and headstarts with NLC’s Civic Mapping Initiative.
- How your community, or its peers, have allocated federal funds from ARPA/SLFRF or IIJA towards community improvements.
- Individual-level economic development with the Upward Mobility Atlas.
- How residents are experiencing day-to-day affordability like gas and food with the American Affordability Tracker.
- Housing affordability with data from the Joint Center for Housing Studies from Harvard.
- Your municipality’s economic connection to institutions of higher education and medicine with the Anchor Economy Dashboard.
- Education inputs and outcomes provided by the Institute of Education Sciences.
We hope this blog offers city leaders encouragement that barriers can be overcome. Please reach out to NLC and City Health Dashboard with questions or comments.
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