Data Portal Documentation
How the NCRRRI Civil Rights Index is built — category definitions, data sources, scoring methodology, update schedules, known limitations, and answers to common questions.
What the Civil Rights Index Measures
The NCRRRI Civil Rights Index is a composite measure of civil rights conditions across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, updated annually. It aggregates quantitative indicators from nine federal datasets and NCRRRI's own field research into a single 0–100 score for each jurisdiction, where 100 represents full equity and lower scores indicate greater documented disparities.
The index is organized into six thematic categories — Voting Rights, Housing Equity, Criminal Justice, Education Access, Employment, and Healthcare Access — each weighted by its relative contribution to civil rights outcomes as established in the peer-reviewed literature. Category scores are themselves composites of between four and eight sub-indicators drawn from primary federal data sources.
The index is designed to be descriptive, not prescriptive. It documents conditions as measured by available data; it does not assign causation or recommend specific policy responses. NCRRRI publishes the full indicator dataset alongside the composite scores so that researchers, advocates, and policymakers can conduct their own analysis.
City-level profiles follow the same six-category structure but are calculated from metro-area or county-level data where state-level aggregation would obscure local conditions. City scores are comparable to state scores on the same 0–100 scale.
Six Index Categories
Each category is a weighted composite of sub-indicators. Expand any category to see the full list of tracked indicators and their data sources.
Primary Data Sources
All quantitative indicators are drawn from publicly available federal datasets or NCRRRI's own field research program. No proprietary or paywalled data is used in the index.
Score Bands & Interpretation
Scores are grouped into four condition bands. Band thresholds were set by NCRRRI's Research Advisory Committee based on the distribution of indicator values across all jurisdictions in the 2019 baseline year.
Conditions broadly consistent with equal protection. Disparities exist but are within documented national norms. Continued monitoring recommended.
Measurable disparities present across multiple indicators. Systemic patterns emerging. Policy intervention warranted.
Significant documented disparities. Multiple indicators below national median. Active monitoring and advocacy engagement recommended.
Severe, compounding disparities across most tracked indicators. Conditions warrant immediate public attention, legal review, and hearing prioritization.
When Data Is Updated
Each category is updated on its own schedule, tied to when source agencies publish new data. Scores are revised as soon as new source data is available and validated.
What the Index Does Not Capture
NCRRRI is committed to transparency about the boundaries of this data. No composite index fully captures the complexity of civil rights conditions. The following limitations should be considered when interpreting scores.
Federal datasets are typically published 12–18 months after the reference period. NCRRRI scores reflect the most recently available data, which may not capture conditions in the current calendar year. The 2025 preliminary scores are subject to revision.
Complaint-based indicators (fair housing, EEOC charges, police misconduct) systematically undercount actual incidents. Communities with less access to legal resources or lower trust in reporting systems will appear better than conditions warrant.
State-level scores mask significant intra-state variation. A state with a moderate overall score may contain cities with critical conditions. City profiles provide finer resolution but are limited to the 36 largest metros.
Category weights reflect NCRRRI's research judgment about relative impact on civil rights outcomes. Reasonable researchers may weight categories differently. The full indicator dataset is available for independent analysis upon request.
Most federal datasets report disparities by single demographic categories. The index does not fully capture compounding disadvantages faced by people at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities.
Lived experience, community trust, and cultural safety cannot be fully quantified. Index scores are a starting point for analysis, not a complete picture. Public testimony collected through NCRRRI hearings provides essential qualitative context.
Public testimony addresses what data cannot.
NCRRRI's public hearing program exists precisely because quantitative indicators cannot capture lived experience, cultural context, or the texture of daily life under unequal conditions. When hearings open in your city, your testimony will become part of the permanent record alongside these scores — providing the qualitative depth that no dataset can supply.
Register for hearing updatesFrequently Asked Questions
Questions about methodology, data access, and how to interpret scores.
Explore the data. Then add your voice.
The index documents conditions. Public testimony documents lives. Both are essential to the national civil rights record NCRRRI is building.