Underrepresented Groups

Findings from City Public Engagement Summaries

Demographic information from six engagement efforts across four recent citywide projects was analyzed to understand who had participated and how improvements can be made in future efforts to engage those who are underrepresented. Table 1 summarizes key information about the selected citywide projects.

Table 1: Citywide Engagement Sample

The analysis compared two commonly asked demographic categories against citywide demographic data published by the U.S. Census Bureau in the 2023 American Community Survey’s 5-Year Estimates.

• Age range – The age range in which a respondent falls within.
• Race and/or ethnicity – The racial and/or ethnic group with which the respondent identifies.

All engagement efforts reviewed in this analysis included both demographic categories as questions. The following was found for the two demographic categories:

• Age range
  • All six engagements asked participants about their age range.
  • Those between 35 and 40 years old answered with a slightly higher frequency than other age groups.
  • The fewest respondents came from those who indicated an age of 24 or younger, followed by those older than 65.
    • Due to response category inconsistencies, exact proportions of participant age representation were not able to be determined. However, those aged 24 or younger make up approximately 29 percent of the citywide population, so the low response count from that age group suggests underrepresentation in engagement.
    • Similarly, those aged 65 or older make up 14 percent of the citywide population. The moderate response count from that age group may suggest slight underrepresentation in engagement.
• Race and/or ethnicity
  • All six engagements asked participants about their race or ethnic identity.
  • Most respondents identified as white/Caucasian, followed by those who identified as Hispanic or Latino.
  • However, when compared to the overall demographics of the City of San Diego proportionally, Asian, Black or African American, and Hispanic or Latino populations were underrepresented.  

These efforts provide a small sampling of past citywide engagement and, therefore, only represent a historical snapshot of populations that participated in the City’s public engagement efforts. However, using this information as a baseline, youth and older adult populations may need more support to engage with the City.