Youth Voting and Civic Engagement in America

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Youth Voting and Civic Engagement (select up to 3)
Conditions that Shape Youth Engagement (select up to 3)
Youth & Elections
Data related to young people's (ages 18-29) participation and impact on the selected year's federal elections.
Youth Civic Engagement
Data about various forms of youth (ages 16-29) non-electoral civic engagement calculated by CIRCLE from the Census Current Population Survey 2017 Civic Supplement. For a handful of states data by race & ethnicity is available on the About page ?
Why these data points?
Population
Data about the number of young people and the share of youth among all community members above age 18.
Education
Data on young people's educational attainment, which often correlates with opportunities to learn about voting and other forms of civic engagement.
Quality of Life
Data on current economic and systemic realities facing a community that may influence whether young people have access to engage in civic life.
Civic Culture
Data on civic organizations and other factors that shape the "ecosystem" that may provide youth opportunities for civic engagement.
Political Landscape
Data on a region's partisan tendencies, recent elections, and other structural factors that may influence young people's approach or exposure to political participation.
Youth Voting and Civic Engagement (select up to 3)
Data related to young people's (ages 18-29) participation and impact on the selected year's federal elections.
The estimated percentage of young citizens, ages 18-29, who cast a ballot in the election.
The estimated number of votes in the election cast by young people, ages 18-29.
The percentage point margin by which young people, ages 18-29, voted for a party's candidate for Senator. (e.g., R+4)
The percentage point margin by which young people, ages 18-29, voted for a party's candidate for Governor. (e.g., D+4)
The pre-election ranking of that year's U.S. Senate race in CIRCLE's Youth Electoral Significance Index (YESI), which rates elections by the likely influence of young voters on the contest.
The pre-election ranking of that year's Governor's race in CIRCLE's Youth Electoral Significance Index (YESI) which rates elections by the likely influence of young voters on the contest.
The pre-election ranking of that year's U.S. House race in CIRCLE's Youth Electoral Significance Index (YESI) which rates elections by the likely influence of young voters on the contest.
Data about various forms of youth (ages 16-29) non-electoral civic engagement calculated by CIRCLE from the Census Current Population Survey 2017 Civic Supplement. For a handful of states data by race & ethnicity is available on the About page ?
The percentage of young people, ages 16-29, who answered yes to: "In the past 12 months, have you belonged to any groups, organizations, or associations?"
The percentage of young people, ages 16-29, who answered yes to: "In the past 12 months, have you volunteered?" (On their own, at school, with an organization, etc.)
The percentage of young people, ages 16-29, who answered yes to: "In the past 12 months did you buy or boycott products or services based on the political values or business practices of that company?"
The percentage of young people, ages 16-29, who answered yes to: "In the past 12 months did you get together with other people from your neighborhood to do something positive for your neighborhood or the community?"
The percentage of young people, ages 16-29, who answered yes to: "In the past 12 months did you and your neighbors do favors for each other such as house sitting, watching each other’s children, lending tools, and other things to help each other?"
The percentage of young people, ages 16-29, who answered yes to: "In the past 12 months did you discuss political, societal, or local issues with your neighbors?"
The percentage of young people, ages 16-29, who answered yes to: "In the past 12 months did you discuss political, societal, or local issues with friends or family?"
The percentage of young people, ages 16-29, who answered yes to: "In the past 12 months did you talk to (in person, on the phone, online) or spend time with people from a racial, ethnic or cultural background that is different than yours?"
The percentage of young people, ages 16-29, who answered yes to: "In the past 12 months did you post your views about political, societal, or local issues on the internet or social media?"
The percentage of young people, ages 16-29, who answered yes to: "In the past 12 months did you contact or visit a public official – at any level of government – to express your opinion?"
Why these data points?
Conditions that Shape Youth Engagement (select up to 3)
Data about the number of young people and the share of youth among all community members above age 18.
The number of United States citizens between the ages of 18-24.
The percentage of young people, ages 18-24, in the overall adult (ages 18+) population.
Data on young people's educational attainment, which often correlates with opportunities to learn about voting and other forms of civic engagement.
The percentage of young people, ages 18-24, who are enrolled in college.
The percentage of young people, ages 18-24, who have at least some college experience.
The percentage of young people, ages 18-24, who have not finished high school.
Data on current economic and systemic realities facing a community that may influence whether young people have access to engage in civic life.
Half of households have an annual income above this number and half of households have an annual income below this number.
A standardized score (z-score) for how wide-ranging incomes are in this location (GINI Index) in relation to the overall distribution across the country – above/positive or below/negative.
The percentage of children (ages 0-17) in households with an equivalized (adjusted for household size and composition) disposable income below the poverty threshold.
The number of violent crimes reported for every 100,000 residents.
The percentage of the population with fixed and mobile high-speed internet.
Data on civic organizations and other factors that shape the "ecosystem" that may provide youth opportunities for civic engagement.
The number of nonprofits for every 10,000 residents.
The percentage of nonprofits that provide services to youth.
The number of social associations for every 10,000 residents.
A standardized score (z-score) for this location in relation to the overall rates across the country of young people, ages 18-29, who have lived at the same address for the past 12 months. If positive, then above average, and if negative, then below average.
For areas where communities of color make up more than 5% of the population, the Residential Racial Segregation Index from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation goes from 1 to 100. The higher the number, the more segregated a community.
Data on a region's partisan tendencies, recent elections, and other structural factors that may influence young people's approach or exposure to political participation.
The partisan lean of the electorate in the past two presidential elections. For the district level, as reported by the Cook Political Report, and for the state level as calculated by CIRCLE based on the formula used by Cook Partisan Voting Index
The party of the candidate who won the largest share of the vote (among all ages) in the state.
Was the vote difference between the winner and runner-up of the previous presidential election within 3 percentage points?
A score, from 1 to 10 that measures how strongly a state has implemented laws that facilitate registration and voting, such as pre-registration and automatic registration. Learn more about Facilitative Election Laws
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Facilitative Election Laws
A score, from 1 to 10 that measures how strongly a state has implemented laws that facilitate registration and voting, such as pre-registration and automatic registration. Learn more about Facilitative Election Laws
RankStateData
1Maryland MD10
2California CA9
3Colorado CO9
4Hawaii HI9
5Nevada NV9
6Washington WA9
7District of Columbia DC8
8Illinois IL8
9North Dakota ND8
10Vermont VT8
11Virginia VA8
12Maine ME7
13Massachusetts MA7
14New Jersey NJ7
15New Mexico NM7
16North Carolina NC7
17Utah UT7
18Michigan MI6
19New York NY6
20Oregon OR6
21Rhode Island RI6
22Alaska AK5
23Connecticut CT5
24Delaware DE5
25Florida FL5
26Iowa IA5
27Louisiana LA5
28Minnesota MN5
29Idaho ID4
30Nebraska NE4
31Pennsylvania PA4
32West Virginia WV4
33Alabama AL3
34Georgia GA3
35Kentucky KY3
36South Carolina SC3
37Wisconsin WI3
38Arizona AZ2
39Indiana IN2
40Kansas KS2
41Missouri MO2
42New Hampshire NH2
43Ohio OH2
44Oklahoma OK2
45South Dakota SD2
46Tennessee TN2
47Montana MT1
48Texas TX1
49Wyoming WY1
50Arkansas AR0
51Mississippi MS0
1Alabama3
2Alaska5
3Arizona2
4Arkansas0
5California9
6Colorado9
7Connecticut5
8Delaware5
9District of Columbia8
10Florida5
11Georgia3
12Hawaii9
13Idaho4
14Illinois8
15Indiana2
16Iowa5
17Kansas2
18Kentucky3
19Louisiana5
20Maine7
21Maryland10
22Massachusetts7
23Michigan6
24Minnesota5
25Mississippi0
26Missouri2
27Montana1
28Nebraska4
29Nevada9
30New Hampshire2
31New Jersey7
32New Mexico7
33New York6
34North Carolina7
35North Dakota8
36Ohio2
37Oklahoma2
38Oregon6
39Pennsylvania4
40Rhode Island6
41South Carolina3
42South Dakota2
43Tennessee2
44Texas1
45Utah7
46Vermont8
47Virginia8
48Washington9
49West Virginia4
50Wisconsin3
51Wyoming1
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Facilitative Election Laws
A score, from 1 to 10 that measures how strongly a state has implemented laws that facilitate registration and voting, such as pre-registration and automatic registration. Learn more about Facilitative Election Laws
01-23-45-67-89-10