California Neighborhoods Count

Photos by AzmanL / Getty Images, Andrei / Adobe Stock

California Neighborhoods Count is a survey sponsored by the State of California. Starting in the spring of 2020, the survey reached more than 23,000 households in 173 neighborhoods across the state, and measured the success of California’s unprecedented efforts to encourage participation in the 2020 U.S. Census. The survey was undertaken by the RAND Corporation with support from UCLA’s California Center for Population Research. The report detailing the findings was released in September, 2020.

As part of the survey, RAND collected information about the sociodemographic characteristics of residents, living arrangements within households, and quality of life in the neighborhood. Along with data collected from the 2020 Census, data from the California Neighborhoods Count will be used by the state to determine resource funding decisions and planning—including decisions on healthcare, housing, schools, senior centers, public safety, and roads—all across the state. Learn more about the survey.

Read the Report

Meet Our Survey Team

Our team of professional interviewers visited homes, apartments, and other dwellings to administer the California Neighborhoods Count survey in 2020.

Project Leaders

  • Regina Shih

    Regina Shih

    Principal Investigator

    Regina Shih is director, Social and Behavioral Policy Program, and a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation.

  • Lane Burgette

    Lane Burgette

    Principal Investigator

    Lane Burgette is a senior statistician at the RAND Corporation.

  • Beverly Weidmer

    Beverly Weidmer

    Co-Principal Investigator

    Ms. Weidmer is a senior survey director in the Survey Research Group at the RAND Corporation.

  • Jennie Brand

    Jennie Brand

    Co-Principal Investigator

    Dr. Brand is a professor of sociology and statistics at UCLA and is the director of UCLA’s California Center for Population Research.

  • Walter Schwarm

    Project Officer

    Dr. Schwarm is the chief demographer, and oversees population estimates, projections, and census affiliate work at the California Department of Finance.