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Mission

The Washtenaw Opportunity Index is a tool to benchmark opportunity in the community. In developing the index, the county seeks to:

• Illustrate where there is and isn't access to opportunity across Washtenaw County; 
• Inform policymakers, community partners, businesses, and the general public;
• Collect and communicate data through an “opportunity lens” – and complement that lens with strategies and tactics that foster human potential; and
• Provide the community with a common, understandable framework by which to make policy and resources allocation decisions that can create more equitable opportunity across the county.

The Opportunity Index is part of Washtenaw County’s broader efforts to increase racial equity.

Project Leads

Washtenaw County Office of Community and Economic Development
University of Michigan | Poverty Solutions

Data team

Gratitude to our many data partners, who helped access, interpret and ultimately include relevant data in the 2020 Opportunity Index.  
Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority
Washtenaw Area Transportation Study (WATS)
Washtenaw County Clerk's Office
Washtenaw County GIS
Washtenaw County Health Department
Washtenaw County Juvenile Court
Washtenaw County Mental Health
Washtenaw County Public Defender
Washtenaw County Racial Equity Office
Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office
Washtenaw Intermediate School District

​Opportunity Index partners

Washtenaw County’s OCED spearheaded this effort in partnership with Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan who provided data processing, technical support, and communications support for the 2020 Opportunity Index. The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University provided data processing and technical support for Washtenaw County's 2015 Opportunity Index.
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Glossary

2015 Opportunity Index