Our 2022 research is focused on equity. We are exploring equity in the economy, housing, criminal justice, health, and more.
Who is in the Marion County Jail? Exploring Length of Stay through an Equity Lens
We analyzed more than 283,000 bookings into Marion County’s jails between 2013 and 2021. We used this data to discover how many people are in jail, the characteristics of those in jail, and how long people remain in jail.
The State of Tenants in Central Indiana
Indiana Senate Bill 230 would have required landlords to make necessary repairs to their properties. We examine the renters impacted by the bill’s failure.
Modern Redlining in Indianapolis?
Our analysis of one million loan applications since 2007 shows that, even when income and debt are the same, Black applicants have 2-3X higher odds of being denied than White applicants, and applying for a loan in a historically redlined neighborhood increases the odds of denial by 50 percent.
Equity and Criminal Justice
Black Hoosiers are twice as likely to be jailed and 4.5 times as likely to be imprisoned as their white peers. However, these disparities exist long before an individual is imprisoned. From the place and situation into which a child is born, to the discipline and juvenile justice policies in their school and community, a person’s childhood experience influences their likelihood of being involved in the criminal justice system.
Worlds Further Apart
Since 2015, the gap in life expectancy between the ZIP codes with the longest and shortest lifespan has increased by 24 percent. ZIP codes with the highest and lowest lifespans are 17 miles apart and half a 17-year gap in life expectancy.
The Lasting Impacts of Segregation and Redlining
80 years after the federal government encouraged lenders to consider “neighborhood characteristics” like race in their lending decisions, redlining and segregation have a measurable impact on economic opportunity, health outcomes, the environment, and violence.
Equity in Economic Opportunity
How race, place, and class impact opportunity in Indianapolis
Children born to low-income families in Indianapolis have worse economic outcomes than almost any other large city, and there are stark disparities for Black children and children who grew up in low-income neighborhoods.
How are you using these data? What other data would be useful for you?
Events
Who is in the Marion County Jail? Exploring Length of Stay
June 16
We examine inmate and booking data obtained from the Marion County Sheriff’s Officem exploring length of stay and the presence of mental health and substance use among Marion County Jail inmates, drawing attention to the characteristics of those with longer lengths of stay or charges that might merit alternative responses in the community or reduced jail time. We also examine racial disproportionalities within the jail, as half of inmate bookings in recent years are from the Black community, in comparison to the racial composition of Marion County, which is only 30% Black.
SAVI Talks: Equity in Criminal Justice
November 18
This SAVI Talk will apply the Cradle to Prison Pipeline framework to the criminal justice landscape of Marion County. We will use it to interpret snapshots of local place-based data that highlight inequities faced by subpopulations from childhood to adulthood, and how policy impacts these inequities.
SAVI Talks: Life Expectancy
August 26
IU Fairbanks School of Public Health is partnering with The Polis Center to analyze gaps in life expectancy across communities.
SAVI Talks: Equity in Aging
April 22
Older adults face issues of equity on a daily basis. The Polis Center, IU Public Policy Institute, and the IU Center for Public Policy Research partner with Central Indiana Senior Fund to highlight these issues and solutions.
SAVI Talks: Equality of Opportunity
March 25
SAVI analysts will present the team’s latest research and WFYI will moderate a panel discussion.
Research Under Development
More equity research is in development, including the following projects.
Revisiting gentrification trends with 2020 Census data
With a full decade of data about block-by-block demographic changes, we can better understand gentrification and displacement.
A neighborhood model of economic opportunity
What drove opportunity in neighborhoods of the 1980s, and what can predict economic mobility for children growing up today?
Measures of Equity
Our equity research agenda will incorporate a community conversation on the key indicators of equity. Until then, here are just a few examples of community-level measures of equity across race, gender, and neighborhoods. For more equity data, visit the SAVI Equity Profile.
Racial Equity
Mortgage denial rate by race
Gender Equity
Median earnings by gender
Neighborhood Equity
Broadband access by census tract
More Equity Research
Reports and articles from 2020 and earlier.
Increasing Mortgage Values
Mortgage values are increasing across the county, indicating an increase in housing prices. We explore the fastest changing areas, as well as places with very little little mortgage activity.
Indy Neighborhoods with Fastest Changing Income Diversity
Most neighborhoods became more mixed-income between 2011 and 2016. Farley, near Ben Davis, had the biggest increase in income diversity, while the historically black suburb Grandview had the biggest decrease.
Indy’s Least Mixed-Income Neighborhoods
Explore neighborhoods where residents are highly concentrated into a few income groups. We dive into examples of concentrations of low-income residents, high-income residents, and middle-income residents.
Estimated 200,000 Indy Residents Live in Food Deserts
Using recent, local data to improve on food access measures, we find that an estimated 200,000 Indianapolis residents have low food access and live in low income areas.
Indy’s Most Mixed-Income Neighborhoods
We measured income diversity in every neighborhood in the region, and the most mixed-income neighborhoods include the Old Northside, the tract containing Rocky Ripple and Crows Nest, and the area near Pike High School.
What Can the Opportunity Atlas Tell Us About Indianapolis?
The newly released Opportunity Atlas shows that children born in different neighborhoods can have vastly different outcomes. Children born in Indianapolis urban core have lower household incomes than those born in northern suburbs.
After Public Investment, St. Clair Place’s Housing Market Significantly Stronger
Mortgage activity in St. Clair Place shows a dramatic increase in home purchases and home value since 2007. The area is more diverse than ever and poverty is falling for people of color. But home buyers are still 76 percent white.
Income Inequality High Where Golden Hill and Northwest Indianapolis Converge
In the area where wealthy Golden Hills converges with the working-class neighborhoods of Northwest Indianapolis, income inequality is high and increasing. The area is also experiencing a growth of white households above the median income.
Changes in Indy’s Historic Black Neighborhoods
In the 1970s, 4,000 residents left this nearly all-black neighborhood. Why? An increasingly desegregated housing market and closure of one of the country’s first public housing projects.
Story Map: Race and Migration Since 1970
In 1970, half of the region’s Black population lived in 12 square miles north of downtown Indianapolis. As Black residents moved into ’60s suburban communities, 120,000 White residents left the city’s core for newer suburbs.