Native American Lands – Page 7 – American Communities Project

Diversity

What’s Behind the American Communities Project’s New Map and County Classifications

by Dante Chinni May 19, 2023

As the American Communities Project continues work on a $2.4 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study division and fragmentation in the United States, we have reworked the typology that defines the ACP.

Collaborating with the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State University, we have resorted the nation’s 3,142 counties among our 15 types using the most updated data, the five-year American Community Survey from 2020. The new typology was guided by a cluster analysis, but hand edited for consistency with the prior clusters. The result is a map that looks familiar but is clearly different.

Some types, such as the African American South and Working Class Country, got smaller in their tally and became more refined as groups. Others, including the Aging Farmlands and Graying America, have more counties now than they had in the past iteration.

A number of factors are behind the changes in the map.

Some are due to the nation’s shifting population at the county level and other socioeconomic and demographic changes. The first iteration of the ACP map was done with Census data from 2011, and a lot can change in nine years, even after a decade of relatively slow growth.

In addition, the ACP used a slightly different analysis and a different source for the religion data in this new breakdown. This new cluster analysis used religious affiliation data from PRRI’s 2020 Census of American Religion, while the old one came from Association of Religion Data Archive tallies. Those new numbers likely had some impact on the sorting of the Evangelical Hub and LDS Enclave counties.

Even with those changes, though, some of the color patterns from the previous ACP map are visible.

Some community types are marked by broad swaths of counties, such as the purple of the Evangelical Hubs, the green of the African American South, and the aqua of Rural Middle America. The turquoise Hispanic Centers have a similar pattern in different areas. Others look more like dots on the map, such as the pink Big Cities, orange Urban Suburbs, and gold Exurbs. The same is true for the red College Towns or the light green Military Posts.

Exploring Data Differences

Along with that reworked map, the ACP has added a page within the website that allows users to examine the differences among the Project’s 15 community types across scores of data sets. With this new Data Clearinghouse, users can look at everything from income and education levels to HIV prevalence in each of the types.

Much of the data on the new page comes from the University of Wisconsin’s County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, but we plan to update it with more data sets as they become available, including the results of our upcoming public opinion surveys.

We feel this addition to the ACP site will help users develop a deeper understanding of just how varied the lived experiences are in the Project’s 15 community types. And we hope you will take the time to dive into this new tool and challenge your thoughts and assumptions about the complicated nature of life in the United States.

Very Different Lives

All the colors and patterns of the new ACP map are really about examining this bigger idea. These 15 community types represent very different kinds of places, full of people living in very different realities, demographically, economically, and culturally.

Looking at the most basic measure of diversity, racial and ethnic differences, shows how the 15 community types look and feel different.

Nationally, about 59% of Americans are white and non-Hispanic. But across the ACP types, the percentage of people in that population varies wildly. In the Aging Farmlands and Rural Middle America, 91% of the population in the median county is white and non-Hispanic. In the Urban Suburbs, the figure is 60%. In the Big Cities, the median county is only 46% white and non-Hispanic. In the Hispanic Centers, only 38% of residents in the median county identify as white and non-Hispanic. In the Native American Lands, the figure is 28%.

Those are massive differences, and they are bound to impact the way the community types see a range of issues — everything from affirmative action to immigration policy.

Median household income variances are immense as well.

The national median household income sits at about $69,700. But the figure is just $42,200 in the median African American South county. Meanwhile, the number sits at $87,700 in the median Urban Suburb. Those data points certainly suggest people living in very different economic worlds.

Even when it comes to participating in the democratic process, the communities look very different. Overall, 68% of the 18-or-older population voted in the 2020 presidential race. But in the different ACP community types, the number ranged from 74% in the median Exurb and Urban Suburb, down to 54% in the median Native American Lands county. Those numbers show how enthusiastic, or unenthusiastic, those communities were in an election that was viewed by many as crucial to the nation’s future.

Electoral Differences

The movement among the types doesn’t have massive effects on the political leanings of each. But some types became more politically homogenous.

The African American South counties tend to have higher African American populations in the new breakdown and lean more solidly Democratic — Hillary Clinton won them by 9 points in 2016, and Joe Biden won them by 10 in 2020. The College Towns are also more solidly Democratic in the new ACP typology, and the biggest factor in any swing seems to be turnout. Clinton won them by only 5 points in 2016, but Biden grew the margin to 10 points in 2020. The Evangelical Hubs and Aging Farmlands both look more solidly Republican than they did before. Trump won them by 59 and 60 points respectively in 2020.

The Hispanic Centers are slightly more Democratic in the new typology. Clinton won them in 2016 and Biden took them in 2020. But there are signs of Republican gains in these communities. In 2020, Biden won them by less than Clinton did four years earlier.

And the uncertainty about former president Donald Trump in the Exurbs, those wealthy college-educated Republican enclaves, is just as pronounced in the new breakdown as it was in the old typology. Trump won them by 16 percentage points in 2016, but by only 11 points in 2020. That roughly mirrors the 6-point drop in the Exurbs in the previous typology.

In the coming months and years, this map will guide the ACP’s work to better understand the forces behind the nation’s economic, cultural, and political fragmentation — and to explore ways to close some of the divides.

African American South Aging Farmlands Big Cities College Towns Evangelical Hubs Exurbs Graying America Hispanic Centers LDS Enclaves Middle Suburbs Military Posts Native American Lands Rural Middle America Urban Suburbs Working Class Country

Vol. 3 2020-2021

Deaths of Despair Across America

The American Communities Project is undertaking a 30-month study of Deaths of Despair in its 15 community types.

Learn More

Culture

A Nation of Giving

by Ari Pinkus April 12, 2023

A majority of American adults give contributions to various causes, according to the MRI-Simmons consumer survey from fall 2021. Overall, 51% of Americans personally contributed to an organization in the previous 12 months from when they participated in the survey. (Surveys were completed between September 2019 and August 2021.) More than a quarter of Americans, 26%, said they gave to a religious entity, standing out among the choices. The others were much below that figure. On average,

10% gave to a political cause,
10% to social services,
10% to another nonreligious organization,
9% to an educational cause,
8% to a health cause,
6% to an environmental entity,
6% to PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), and
5% to an arts/cultural cause.

Breakdown by Community Type

A mix of homogenous and diverse rural communities were more likely than average to have contributed to a religious organization: the middle-income Aging Farmlands as well as the lower-income African American South, Working Class Country, and Evangelical Hubs. Based in the South, Appalachia, and the Plains states, these communities are known for the integration of religion into daily life.

These same communities were less likely than average to have donated to a political entity while Urban Suburbs and LDS Enclaves were more likely to have contributed. Diverse, upper-middle-income Urban Suburbs are filled with working professionals with more disposable income for such contributions. These communities ringing cities have become Democratic bastions, and many residents have been politically fired up in the past several years.

In the middle-income LDS Enclaves, with large numbers of Mormon adherents, there’s a widespread spirit of citizenship that may be demonstrated through donating to political groups. On its website, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says it “does not endorse, promote or oppose political parties, candidates or platforms.” At the same time, “The Church does encourage its members to play a role as responsible citizens in their communities, including becoming informed about issues and voting in elections.”

Social services was another category of note. Residents in the Middle Suburbs, Urban Suburbs, and Exurbs were more likely than average to have contributed to a social service organization in the previous 12 months. These organizations have been stretched particularly thin in the suburbs with the pandemic and the growing need among residents.

Dollars Given

When it comes to the amount given, 18% of Americans said they gave $500 or more in the past 12 months. That was the highest rate among the options. On average,

10% gave between $100 and $249,
8% gave less than $50,
7% gave between $50 and $99, and
6% gave between $250 and $499.

When breaking it down by community type, LDS Enclaves and upper-middle-income Exurbs as well as Aging Farmlands and Graying America, with sizable senior populations who may be thinking about their legacy as well as their taxes, said they were more likely than average to have given upwards of $500 in the previous 12 months. Hispanic Centers, with more young people, and stratified Big Cities came in below average. However, most communities were near the 100 average index score for this level of contribution, conveying a kind of geographic unity on giving patterns.

Vol. 3 2020-2021

Deaths of Despair Across America

The American Communities Project is undertaking a 30-month study of Deaths of Despair in its 15 community types.

Learn More

Culture

Online Survey: Listening to the Nation

by American Communities Project March 23, 2023

As we work on our project to understand divisions and opportunities to come together in American communities, we invite you to share your thoughts on 25 common and important terms that help define the nation in this SurveyMonkey survey. Please feel free to share the link with your networks: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LJLXH9H.

We’ll be writing about the findings in the months ahead. Thank you for your participation!

Vol. 3 2020-2021

Deaths of Despair Across America

The American Communities Project is undertaking a 30-month study of Deaths of Despair in its 15 community types.

Learn More

Culture

Who Owns a Passport in America?

by Dante Chinni March 19, 2023

This spring marks the three-year anniversary of the Covid-19 lockdowns, and with the virus increasingly in the rearview mirror, at least for most people, international travel is up. The World Tourism Organization estimates that tourism will be back to pre-pandemic levels this year in some areas.

But across the communities that the ACP measures, there will almost certainly be different reactions to the return of international travel because the most basic part of leaving the country — owning a valid passport — looks very different across the 15 community types.

Nationally, 56% of American adults own a valid passport, according to consumer survey data from MRI-Simmons. But a close look at the numbers through the prism of the ACP, suggests a complicated set of issues behind which communities are more or less likely to own a passport and why.

At the highest level, the numbers show a pretty clear urban-rural divide. The three types with the highest percentage of adults with a valid passport are the Urban Suburbs at 64%, the Big Cities at 62%, and the Exurbs at 58%.

Those are the only community types above the national figure of 56%. They are all also above the national average for bachelor’s degrees (a data point that matters on travel), they tend to have lots of high-income households, and they also tend to be near major airports. In other words, it makes sense that they are all above the national average for passports.

On the other end, there are two community types where less than 40% of the adult population has a passport: the African American South at 39% and the Evangelical Hubs at 38%. The opposite tends to be true for those counties. The communities that are largely based in the rural South tend to have lower incomes and fewer bachelor’s degrees.

But there are some outliers in the numbers.

For instance, the Middle Suburbs tend to be fairly urban and located near transportation hubs, but their passport numbers are slightly below the national figure at 53%. Some of that may be due to other factors such as lower incomes and fewer college degrees.

The Military Posts may come as a surprise. At 48%, the community type is among the lower numbers here — and that’s in a community full of people who are often required to travel the world. But remember, not everyone travels in those communities. Even in military families when soldiers are sent abroad, someone often needs to stay home with the children. And when soldiers come home from a deployment, they may not be eager to head overseas again.

The Hispanic Centers have relatively high numbers of people with passports. They are three points below the national average at 53%, but the fifth highest among the 15 types and higher than one might imagine they’d be considering their lower incomes and college degrees and often their more rural nature.

But those communities also have large populations that have reason to travel — newer immigrants who have family and friends back in their home countries. While international travel is a luxury in some community types, in the Hispanic Centers it is more likely to be seen as part of life.

Most surprising here may be the relatively high number of adults with passports in the LDS Enclaves. At 56%, the number is the fourth highest in the ACP and even with the national average. The Enclaves have roughly the same median household income as the Middle Suburbs. They have a few more college graduates than the Middle Burbs, but they also tend to be far more rural and farther from major airports.

One big factor is likely the tradition within the Mormon religion for missionary work. Young LDS men are strongly encouraged to participate in missionary service and those trips may help build bonds in other countries and an affinity for foreign travel that lasts beyond their youth.

Vol. 3 2020-2021

Deaths of Despair Across America

The American Communities Project is undertaking a 30-month study of Deaths of Despair in its 15 community types.

Learn More

Diversity

ACP Begins Work With NASA, University of Maryland

by Dante Chinni February 22, 2023

The community types of the American Communities Project were created by analyzing demographic data — items including age, race, income, and education — but the counties themselves are geographic entities and those physical locations matter. Some places are arid, some are rainy. Some are flat and largely empty, tailor-made for agriculture, others face unique environmental challenges.

To explore how those physical realities tie into demographic and cultural differences, the ACP is working with the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Department of Geographical Sciences on a grant from NASA’s Earth Science Applications: Equity and Environmental Justice program to examine how experiences of environmental distress over time interact with other socioeconomic challenges on tribal lands. The ACP/UMD team aims to identify how environmental justice (EJ) issues may contribute to social distress and premature mortality in American communities. The focus for the work will be Native American Lands communities in Montana.

The effort, which is being led by Dr. Julie Silva from the University of Maryland, springs from work the ACP did on Deaths of Despair and, in particular, that phenomenon in Native American Lands communities in Montana.

The economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton coined the term “deaths of despair” to refer to premature mortality caused by suicide, alcohol, and drug use in America. They found these deaths to be steadily increasing since 1999 among middle-aged White Americans without a college degree, a stark contrast to declining mortality rates among Black and Hispanic Americans. But the ACP’s analysis of the data showed Native American communities in particular faced much higher than average Deaths of Despair since the epidemic grew in the 2000s. The chart below shows the Deaths of Despair across the community types in Montana from 1999–2018

With the new grant, the ACP and Silva’s team will combine publicly available Earth Science information (ESI) — environmental data from equipment such as remote sensors — with the socioeconomic data the ACP has gathered to find areas where environmental hardship may contribute to (and result from) forms of socioeconomic distress that are linked to Deaths of Despair in Native American Lands counties.

Those counties, in particular, are places where the ties between community, identity, and the natural environment are especially strong and where environmental justice challenges are many. However, as in other research on American Deaths of Despair, no environmental data was used in the ACP analysis, an omission the project aims to address.

The group will merge the environmental and socioeconomic data, looking for correlations and building visualizations to show potential impacts and areas needing further study. They will also compare the patterns and dynamics observed within and between Native American Lands as well as with other community types in the ACP typology.

The team will then go further, taking what they learn from that analysis out into the field in Native American Lands counties in Montana to see what those data look like in the real world and how the communities are addressing the challenges they face.

The project will further NASA’s goal to advance EJ in underserved American communities through the use of publicly available ESI by 1) enhancing existing methodologies to document environmental inequities and their impacts on human well-being and; 2) developing new insights into the dynamic intersections between EJ challenges and socioeconomic struggles. Collaborative efforts between social and Earth scientists and ACP journalists with an expertise in relaying complex information to non-technical audiences will enable the research team to communicate project findings to the general public. In addition to being published in academic journals, the project’s findings will appear on the ACP website as well as other outlets affiliated with project partners.

Native American Lands

Vol. 3 2020-2021

Deaths of Despair Across America

The American Communities Project is undertaking a 30-month study of Deaths of Despair in its 15 community types.

Learn More

Culture

Where Americans Unite and Divide Around Driving

by Ari Pinkus February 16, 2023

Americans’ “love affair with the automobile” dates back to at least the mid-twentieth century. The first car is still a rite of passage for many teens, as chronicled recently by The New York Times. Even as vehicles take new and different forms — hybrid, electric — and people delay getting licenses, the ability to drive is still a uniting force for most of the country.

Two trends have held across communities: The automobile was the most popular kind of vehicle driven and errands were the most popular reason for driving, according to the fall 2021 MRI-Simmons survey broken into the 15 county types in the American Communities Project. In this breakdown, a variety of rural communities held an outsized preference for driving trucks. Affluent Exurbs as well as middle-income Aging Farmlands and LDS Enclaves were more likely to report commuting to work as a primary reason for driving. Clearly, communities of all sizes felt the economic pain of sky-high gas prices in the past year.

Licensed Drivers Across Communities

Nationwide, more than 90% (92%) of Americans age 18 and above said they have a valid driver’s license, according to the latest MRI-Simmons survey. There is general unity across the 15 types, with most near the 100 average index score. Standing out are the Aging Farmlands, among the most sparsely populated types of places, based in the Central and Great Plains. With a score of 106, residents are 6% more likely than average to have a driver’s license.

What Kind of Vehicle

When it comes to the type of vehicle driven, the most popular fit into three broad categories: automobile (72%), sport/utility vehicle (21%), and regular pick-up (11%). The next three fell much below that, but rank more likely than average in certain kinds of places. Overall, 4% of Americans reported that they drive a minivan, 3% a motorcycle, and 3% a heavy duty truck.

Rural communities throughout the country have distinct tastes in vehicles. For instance, middle-income Aging Farmlands and lower-income Native American Lands said they drive heavy duty trucks at more than two times the average. Middle-income LDS Enclaves and Rural Middle America as well as lower-income Working Class Country and Evangelical Hubs were also more than 50% above average to drive these.

Regular pick-ups were another type popular in these parts. Evangelical Hubs, Rural Middle America, Working Class Country, and Aging Farmlands all stood at least 50% above average.

The minivan was at least 20% more likely to be driven than average in a mix of rural and suburban communities: Aging Farmlands, Evangelical Hubs, Rural Middle America, Working Class Country, Middle Suburbs, and Exurbs. Among the communities, Exurbs stand out for having a growing child population, according to the American Communities Project's analysis of the 2020 census.

Why People Drive

The No. 1 primary reason Americans said they drive is to run errands at 58%. Coming in neck-and-neck for second and third were leisure at 47% and commute to work at 46%. The rural western LDS Enclaves and Aging Farmlands as well as Graying America stood out for above average scores for errands and leisure. Aging Farmlands, Exurbs, and LDS Enclaves stood out for above average scores on commuting to work.

Driving Distance in a Year

On miles driven, the most popular amounts fell into three categories: 16% of Americans said they drove between 10,000 and 14,999 miles in the last 12 months, 13% said between 5,000 and 7,999 miles, and 13% said between 1,000 and 2,999.

Perhaps not surprisingly, residents of middle-income rural white communities — Aging Farmlands and Rural Middle America — reported driving more miles than average. The affluent Exurbs were also notably more likely than average to drive more. Rural communities of color — the African American South and Hispanic Centers — were less likely than average to drive more miles.

African American South Aging Farmlands Big Cities College Towns Evangelical Hubs Exurbs Hispanic Centers LDS Enclaves Middle Suburbs Military Posts Native American Lands Rural Middle America Urban Suburbs Working Class Country

Vol. 3 2020-2021

Deaths of Despair Across America

The American Communities Project is undertaking a 30-month study of Deaths of Despair in its 15 community types.

Learn More

Media

Different Communities, Different Social Media Platforms

by Dante Chinni February 09, 2023

It’s difficult to deny the power of social media in the United States in 2023. As smartphones have become ubiquitous, so has the posting, reading, and sharing of social media content. A recent survey from MRI-Simmons, a consumer research firm, found that 84% of Americans visited or used the sites in the last year.

But not all social media outlets are created equal in the eyes of consumers. That same survey showed wide differences by social media site and by community type in the American Communities Project.

In short, depending on what site you rely on most heavily, the people filling your daily diet of content can come from different backgrounds and experiences.

Who Goes Where Online

To be sure, social media is a “curated experience” from the start. Users choose who they “follow” or who their “friends” are, but those curated groups come from a universe of self-selected participants. And looked at through the lens of the 15 ACP county types, interesting patterns emerge.

Twitter’s User Group is Relatively Small and Urban

Over the last few months, Twitter has received a lot of attention in the news after the platform was purchased by the billionaire owner of Tesla, Elon Musk. The platform has played a major role in national politics, particularly where former President Donald Trump is concerned.

Trump used the outlet as a megaphone for his views on a wide range of political and cultural topics at all hours and was “permanently suspended” from app after the January 6, 2021, insurrection for violating Twitter’s Glorification of Violence policy. He is about to be reinstated by Musk.

But looking at the chart, two things stand out about Twitter.

First, the percentage of Americans who use the platform is relatively low when compared to other well-known social media sites. Overall, 64% of Americans say they use Facebook and 37% say they use Instagram while only 18% say they use Twitter.

Second, when you look at the chart above, there are noticeable gaps between the most urban and the most rural types. The percentage of adults using the platform is 20% or more only in the ACP’s two most urban and types — the Big Cities and Urban Suburbs, which also have large numbers of college degrees. The Exurbs, which tend to be wealthy and well-educated, are next at 18%. Meanwhile, some of the ACP’s least populous types, the Aging Farmlands, Native American Lands, and Working Class Country, are all at 13% or lower.

There’s nothing bad about that, of course, unless you hope you are getting a balanced collection of views of the site. All social media by its very nature connects you to a subset of views, but Twitter, in particular, connects you to a subset of a subset.

In addition, while some on the political right complain that Twitter is “too liberal,” the ACP data suggests there may be some reason for that. If the users create the content and users tend to be more heavily based in urban areas that lean Democratic, a leftward lean may not be a big surprise. (Close to half the nation’s population lives in the Big Cities and Urban Suburbs).

Facebook Still Dominates — Everywhere

The data for Facebook tells the opposite story. More than 60% of the adults in every one of the 15 ACP community types says they use Facebook. In a country that is divided on a long list of issues and that has few common meeting spaces, those are somewhat remarkable numbers.

And Facebook has a higher percentage of users in the ACP’s more rural communities. Almost three-quarters of the adults in the Aging Farmlands say they use the platform. The number is 69% in Working Class Country counties.

The most urban communities use the platform less — 62% in the Big Cities and Urban Suburbs and 64% in the Exurbs.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that those city folk and country folk are all reading the same content. Self-selection, “friends,” and algorithms are a huge part of any social media experience, as The Wall Street Journal explored in 2016. But it does mean that, as a whole, Facebook’s audience is much more representative, and probably more diverse, than Twitter’s audience.

And that’s even more true for Facebook in a broader sense when you look at its parent company, Meta, and who uses Instagram, another social media platform it owns. More adults use Instagram, the image-based social media platform, than Twitter in every community type, and the more urban communities are more likely to use it than their rural counterparts.

Fragmentation is the Rule

This is just a cursory analysis of these platforms. There is no measure here of power users or regular posters and no measure of news consumption or mis- or disinformation. And information fragmentation is very much a way of life in America in 2023.

Long gone are the days of three TV networks and local newspapers. Gone, too, are the days of “57 channels and nothing on.” In a world of millions of “channels” on the web, common views and experiences are hard to find in the United States.

But even within the targeted and niche world of social media, there are big differences in platform use across American communities.

Vol. 3 2020-2021

Deaths of Despair Across America

The American Communities Project is undertaking a 30-month study of Deaths of Despair in its 15 community types.

Learn More

Culture

How Dining Out Habits and Preferences Vary by Community

by Ari Pinkus December 05, 2022

Dining out was the No. 1 leisure activity Americans engaged in during much of the pandemic, according to an MRI-Simmons survey completed last fall and filtered into the American Communities Project types this past summer. Fifty-one percent of Americans said they dined out in the previous 12 months before taking the survey, sometime between September 2019 and August 2021.

The percentages were higher in white middle- to upper-middle income communities, including the affluent Exurbs on the outer reaches of cities, Rural Middle America across the upper tier of the country, Middle Suburbs in the Rust Belt, and LDS Enclaves in the Mountain West. The percentages were lowest in communities of color, multicultural communities, and those based in the South. In the bunch, the Urban Suburbs‘ average percentage may be a particular surprise, given these communities are known for their high incomes and on-the-go lifestyles, but heightened restrictions on restaurants and individuals’ precautions during the pandemic may have curbed dining out among residents.

Just 7% of Americans nationwide said they dine out two or more times a week. But this was not evenly distributed among the 15 community types. Residents in Exurbs, Evangelical Hubs, and Working Class Country — predominantly white communities of varying income levels — were much more likely than average to dine out often each week. Big Cities and Urban Suburbs, where many might expect eating out to be popular, faced more restrictions in the pandemic, and were below average. Meanwhile, Native American Lands' residents were significantly less likely than average to dine out at least twice a week.

What Were Popular Restaurants?

Survey participants were asked about 65 brands of restaurants they bought or ate at in the last 6 months.

Below are the ones that stood out for having an overall response rate of at least 5%.

Many may recall the Applebee’s commercials and social media spots that went viral during the pandemic. Applebee’s, which started in Decatur, Georgia, in 1980 and known now for its large, affordable menu, was most popular in middle-income communities of varying diversity, including Middle Suburbs, College Towns, Urban Suburbs, and Military Posts.

Compare that to competitor Chili’s Grill & Bar, which started in Dallas in 1975. It was more popular in many economically and ethnically diverse communities concentrated in the Southwest and West, including LDS Enclaves and Hispanic Centers, as well as stratified Big Cities and affluent Exurbs across the country. Chili's brick-and-mortar restaurants are more plentiful in these parts.

Slightly less popular overall was IHOP, focused on American breakfast foods with lunch and dinner menu items. Established in 1958 in Burbank, California, 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles, IHOP was much more likely than average to be patronized in Big Cities and Urban Suburbs ringing cities. IHOP's presence is more limited in a range of rural communities.

With a similar premise of offering affordable, American breakfast foods, Denny's rounded out the top chains nationally. The restaurant's appeal generally encompassed a wider geography than IHOP's. Denny's was founded in 1953 in Lakewood, California, and opened its first international restaurant in Acapulco, Mexico, in 1967. Residents in Hispanic Centers, known as agricultural bastions, were 102% more likely than average to have eaten or bought food at Denny's in the six months before taking the MRI-Simmons survey. Big Cities and more rural LDS Enclaves were also more likely than average to have patronized the diner.

Vol. 3 2020-2021

Deaths of Despair Across America

The American Communities Project is undertaking a 30-month study of Deaths of Despair in its 15 community types.

Learn More

Culture

America’s Readers: How Book Consumption Stacks Up Across Communities

by Ari Pinkus November 21, 2022

Reading books was one of the most popular leisure activities in America during much of the pandemic, according to the latest MRI-Simmons survey from fall 2021 and filtered into the American Communities Project’s 15 county types this past summer. Forty percent of Americans said they read books for leisure in the last 12 months before they took the survey, sometime between September 2019 and August 2021. (Only dining out and listening to music were more popular at 51% and 49%, respectively.)

In addition, reading books was the most frequent leisure activity for Americans nationwide during the previous 12 months before participating in the survey. Twenty-three percent reported reading books for leisure at least twice a week — the most popular leisure activity enjoyed more than once a week.

In some community types, this frequency was more pronounced. Reading two or more times a week was highest among residents in predominately white, middle-income communities. It reached at least a quarter of the population in four community types, including:

27% in LDS Enclaves, Mountain West Mormon communities;
26% in Graying America scattered around the Northeast, Upper Midwest, South, and West;
25% in Aging Farmlands in the Central and Great Plains; and
25% in Exurbs on the outer reaches of cities.

Reading books at least twice a week was lower among multicultural communities, communities of color, and many in the South. It hit 21% in Native American Lands, Big Cities, and Evangelical Hubs (concentrated in the South). The figure dropped to 20% in Hispanic Centers, gathered in the West and Southwest; and 19% in the African American South, sweeping from Virginia to Texas.

Where There’s Heavy Book Buying

More than one-fifth (21%) of Americans said they purchased seven or more books in the previous 12 months before taking the survey. This was considered heavy. The same percentage (21%) purchased zero to three books, while 12% purchased four to six books, a medium amount.

The community level stats generally track with the communities reading frequently for leisure. Twenty-five percent of LDS Enclaves, 23% of Aging Farmlands, and 23% of Exurbs bought seven or more books. Interestingly, College Towns came in just slightly above average at 22% for seven or more books, perhaps because they have wider access to borrowed books and/or are reading materials online. Meanwhile, 22% of Native American Lands bought seven or more books in the 12-month time frame, higher than community types with many people of color: the African American South and Hispanic Centers.

What Books Are People Buying?

The MRI-Simmons survey shows that book preferences vary among Americans nationwide.

Book Preferences By Community Type

Residents in the LDS Enclaves and Exurbs were more likely than average to have purchased children’s books in the 12 months before taking the MRI-Simmons survey. This is not surprising, given that the 2020 Census showed that the child population is growing in both kinds of places. It may be more surprising that Aging Farmlands were also more likely than average to have bought children’s books during this period. This may come from family and friends gifting books to young families.

People in the multicultural, stratified Big Cities and affluent Urban Suburbs were more likely than average to have reported purchasing biographies in the same 12-month time frame.

In the Urban Suburbs and Exurbs, places where passports are more common, residents were much more likely than average to have purchased travel books. Meanwhile, the Aging Farmlands and LDS Enclaves had higher-than-average cookbook purchases.

Residents in the African American South stood out for being more likely to have purchased religious books in the last 12 months before the survey. Those in the Evangelical Hubs and Aging Farmlands, where religion is a very high priority, were also more likely than average to have purchased these books. People in Working Class Country in Appalachia, Military Posts in and around military bases, and Native American Lands were notably more likely than average to have purchased religious books. Religion and/or faith is often woven into daily life in these places.

LDS Enclaves and Urban Suburbs were more likely than average to have purchased novels in the previous 12 months before taking the survey. Those in the Native American Lands, Aging Farmlands, and African American South were more likely than average to have bought romance novels in the previous 12 months. At the same time, residents in LDS Enclaves and Hispanic Centers were more likely than average to have purchased science fiction.

Vol. 3 2020-2021

Deaths of Despair Across America

The American Communities Project is undertaking a 30-month study of Deaths of Despair in its 15 community types.

Learn More

Food

How Food Comforts and Connects Americans Amid Wide-Ranging Challenges

by Ari Pinkus August 08, 2022

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, four of the eight most popular leisure activities in America have revolved around food, according to a MRI-Simmons survey released last fall and filtered into the American Communities Project’s county types this summer. After so much time spent social distancing, dining out was the No. 1 leisure activity. Barbecuing, baking, and cooking were other major activities.

And Americans expressed many similar food attitudes — including preferring to cook with fresh food, trying to buy what’s locally produced, and enjoying food from different cultures. This is despite uneven socioeconomic circumstances and food environments across the American Communities Project’s terrain, which categorizes the 3,142 counties by 15 types.

Measuring Leisure Activities

MRI-Simmons asked Americans about 54 different leisure activities. Below is a word cloud of the activities polled.

How Cooking for Fun Stacks Up

Given the pandemic’s effects on time in the kitchen, the American Communities Project drilled down to learn if cooking for fun has been particularly popular in certain kinds of places. The LDS Enclaves — middle-income, Mormon communities in the interior West — were the highest at 31%. Stratified Big Cities as well as affluent Exurbs and Urban Suburbs also climbed above the national figure of 27%.

Participation was lower in the African American South and Evangelical Hubs, lower-income communities based in the South. Also on the lower end were Military Posts, middle-income, transient communities scattered around the country; and Working Class Country, lower-income, service centers concentrated in Appalachia.

Interesting, too, that cooking for fun is one of three leisure activities that more than 10% of people across communities said they participate in 2+ times a week. (The others are reading books, 23%, and listening to music, 22%.) Exurbs show the highest number here at 12%; again, Southern-based communities, the African American South and Evangelical Hubs, lag at 8%.

Housing and Food Insecurity

Across the country, Americans struggle with personal and household challenges that can affect the ability to cook with ease, even pleasure. Housing instability is an issue impacting a wide range of American communities, particularly some communities of color and ones that are densely populated, diverse, and stratified. Native American Lands and Big Cities have the most trouble here, with 19% affected. However, more multicultural Urban Suburbs, College Towns, and Hispanic Centers also struggle with severe housing problems. Overcrowding as well as a lack of plumbing and/or kitchen facilities undoubtedly make cooking more challenging.

Glaringly, food insecurity touches Americans all over the map. In most communities, at least 11% find it difficult to access food. Native American Lands, the African American South, and Evangelical Hubs are hit particularly hard with upwards of 15% of residents being food insecure. Exurbs, located on the outer reaches of cities, are on the lower end at 10%.

Food As Comfort and Connection

Despite varying socioeconomic challenges, Americans are aligned in their food attitudes in key ways, according to the MRI-Simmons study. As in many times of crisis, food has been a comfort and a gateway to connection, say at least 70% of Americans. This held true after filtering data through ACP’s geographic lens. Hispanic Centers were slightly below the national average on the issue of food providing comfort, at 69%. It’s worth noting that quite a few of these counties are home to meatpacking plants and a heavy agricultural workforce.

After more than a year of social distancing, Americans widely expressed unanimity in using food to bring family together. In all community types, between 72% and 75% of residents said food helped in this way.

Food Environment Challenges

While food is soothing and connecting for individuals, the food environment looks very unequal across the country, according to the 2022 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. This measure, ranging from 0 (worst) to 10 (best), evaluates physical proximity to healthy food as well as income barriers in communities. Food deserts have been correlated with negative health outcomes.

Affluent Urban Suburbs and Exurbs followed by middle-income Rural Middle America have the lushest food environments, reaching above 8. With fewer markets and lower-incomes, communities of color — Native American Lands and African American South — sit at the bottom at 5.4 and 6.9, respectively. However, the predominantly white Evangelical Hubs are not far behind at 7.

Personal Habits and Choices Around Food

Despite less-than-stellar food environments in many parts of the country, about 80% of Americans nationally and within the 15 community types say they do cook their meals frequently. And people report a discerning consciousness in their choices. More than 70% of residents in all 15 community types prefer cooking with fresh rather than frozen or canned food. At least 64% in 13 types try to buy food grown or produced locally; the exceptions are Big Cities and Hispanic Centers at 61%.

Geographic variations come into focus on the question of enjoying food from different cultures, according to the MRI-Simmons study. LDS Enclaves, Big Cities, and Native American Lands lead here. Fewer people in predominantly white communities — including lower-income counties in the South and Appalachia as well as middle-income Rural Middle America across the country’s upper tier and middle-income Aging Farmlands in the Great Plains — agree that they enjoy food from different cultures, but even here the percentage is a clear majority with at least 63%.

Vol. 3 2020-2021

Deaths of Despair Across America

The American Communities Project is undertaking a 30-month study of Deaths of Despair in its 15 community types.

Learn More

Exploring Data Differences

Very Different Lives

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Deaths of Despair Across America

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What Do Americans Know About Trump 2.0? A Lot.

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What Voters Say About Racism in America

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Surprising Consistency on a Path to Citizenship for Long-Term Immigrants

What Do Americans Know About Trump 2.0? A Lot.

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Measuring Leisure Activities

How Cooking for Fun Stacks Up

Housing and Food Insecurity

Food As Comfort and Connection

Food Environment Challenges

Personal Habits and Choices Around Food

A Food Access Model in Michigan’s Graying America

Climate Change and Resilience in Oregon’s Food System

Deaths of Despair Across America