2022 QoL: Social Capital by Neighborhood

Social capital by neighborhood – the extent of close personal relationships and other social or cultural resources that are available for individuals’ or communities’ health promotion, well-being, and economic advancement – is consistently linked with both health and income inequality. Social capital at a community level is therefore an important social determinant of health.

In this dashboard, we present differences in social capital at a neighborhood level within Spokane County, using results from the 2022 Quality of Life Survey. Survey responses were rescaled and included in a formula to calculate a composite, or combined, social capital score. Composite scores ranged from 0 (the lowest social capital) to 1 (the highest social capital). Participants’ social capital scores were averaged by neighborhood. The dashboard also displays the relationships of neighborhood-level social capital with other quality-of-life factors that are linked to income inequality, including housing stability, feelings of safety, availability of parks, trails, and open spaces in one’s neighborhood, and discrimination, to name a few. These results can be used to better understand broader social inequities that exist within Spokane County based on where our residents live, and to highlight some specific factors that may be associated.