Skip to content
SourceLineThe Black Civic Data Platform

Our mission is to make sure Black communities are not simply informed about the decisions shaping our future, but equipped to help make those decisions. An informed community is a powerful community.

SourceLine Insights

The whole picture of your community, in one report

You can find a mortgage figure at one federal agency, a business count at another, a farm count at a third and a vote record on a city clerk's website. Then the real work begins: matching years, matching places, and figuring out who decided what. Most organizations never get that far.

SourceLine has already done that work. We gather more than 80 official sources, line them up for the same place and the same years, set Black residents beside all residents on every line, and put the names of the people who decide beside the numbers. One report gives you what would take weeks to piece together.

Try a comparison Tell us what you need

Every figure names its source and its year. We do not sell personal data.

What you get here that no single source gives you

  • Every topic, one place, one set of years. Jobs, homes, lending, business, land, health, schools, federal money and voting, all for the same county, city or district, from the nation down to a single address.
  • Black residents beside all residents, then and now. Every figure shows the gap and whether it grew or closed, so you see the trend, not one number.
  • The need beside the money. Poverty, food aid and health beside the federal dollars that reached the place, the nonprofits already serving and the foundations already giving. Money passed down to a second grantee is never counted twice.
  • The numbers beside the people who decide. For every topic, who holds power at each level, from the city council to Congress, by name, with how each one voted on the record.
  • What is being decided now. The open decisions on local agendas that touch your topic, the next date your people can be heard, and where residents stand once enough of them answer.
  • Voting power beside the record. Black citizens of voting age in every district, set beside the officials those voters elect and the votes those officials cast.
  • History that stays. Past officeholders and old district lines are kept, so a report can show what changed and who was in office when it did.

Combined reports

  1. The Whole Community Picture

    Everything we hold for one place, nation first, then state, county, city and district: where Black residents stand today, what changed, who decides, what is open now and what your people can do next.

  2. Need and Money

    Where the need is, where the public and private money goes, and who is already serving, side by side. Built for funders, nonprofits and churches deciding where the next dollar does the most good.

  3. Ownership and Wealth

    Homes, mortgage lending, businesses, federal contracts and land, together, so you can see where Black wealth is being built and where the doors are closing.

  4. Power and Accountability

    For a district, a board or a whole county: who holds each seat, how they voted, the Black voting age population they answer to, and the conditions in their district while they served.

  5. Issue Brief

    One decision on the agenda: the facts, who pays and at what stage, who decides and when, and where residents stand. Built to hand to a congregation, a board or a reporter.

  6. Your Service Area

    Any of these drawn to the counties, cities, ZIP codes, school areas or districts you serve, compared with the state and the nation.

Single topic reports are also available for every county: jobs and income, homes and lending, Black-owned business, federal money, health, schools and reading, land and farms, nonprofits and funders, and who decides and how they voted.

How you receive it

  • A page for any phoneOpen it anywhere and share it with your board or members.
  • A download with every sourceEvery figure with its source, its year and how it was worked out, ready for a spreadsheet.
  • A plain briefingWritten for a grant, a board meeting or a community forum.

How we handle data

  • Every figure names its public source and its year.
  • Each report says what it covers, what it leaves out and when it was last checked.
  • We never sell or share personal data. Resident concerns and stances are shared only as totals.
  • The numbers are the same for everyone, whatever their party or purpose. What they mean for your plans is your reading, and we label it as yours.

Two sample reports

Two examples of how a report reads. The places, people and figures are made up; a real report is built on your places and the official record.

Example only. The place and every figure are made up to show how a report reads.

Sample Report

For a church that serves families across Sample County 1.

What is working. Black residents are 40% of Sample County 1 and 45% of its citizens of voting age. Black homeownership rose from 42% ten years ago to 50% today, while all households held near 60%, so the gap closed from 18 points to 10.

The need beside the money. 1 in 4 Black children live below the poverty line, against 1 in 6 of all children. Federal agencies awarded $20 million for housing and child care in the county last year, and $12 million of it has been spent so far. Those are two stages of the same money, never a total. 300 nonprofits serve the county, and 40 of them work on housing or child care.

Who decided. The county commission voted 4 to 3 to put $2 million of that award toward a new child care center. The commissioners for Districts 1, 2, 5 and 7 voted yes; Districts 3, 4 and 6 voted no. Black residents are 70% of the citizens of voting age in District 3.

What is open now. A second $3 million round is on the commission agenda for April 14, and residents can speak at the hearing that night. Of 400 residents who answered, 6 in 10 want it spent on child care near bus lines.

From the nation to your address. Every figure runs from the nation to the state, the county, the city and one home on Main Street, with the commissioner, state legislators and member of Congress for that address.

Each figure in a real report carries its official source and year.

Example only. The places and every figure are made up to show how a report reads.

Sample County 1 and Sample County 2, side by side

For a funder choosing where the next dollar does the most good.

What is working. Black homeownership is rising in both. In Sample County 1 it rose from 42% to 50% in ten years, while all households held near 60%, closing the gap from 18 points to 10. In Sample County 2 it rose from 45% to 47% while all households rose from 62% to 65%, so the gap held steady, 17 points then and 18 now. Sample County 1 is closing it.

The money by stage. Sample County 1 was awarded $20 million in federal housing and child care money last year and has spent $12 million. Sample County 2 was awarded $15 million and has spent $4 million. Awarded and spent are two stages of the same money, never added. 300 nonprofits serve Sample County 1 and 180 serve Sample County 2.

Who decided. In Sample County 1 the commission voted 4 to 3 to fund a child care center; District 3, where Black residents are 70% of the citizens of voting age, voted no. In Sample County 2 the commission voted 3 to 2 to hold its housing award for a later year; the commissioners for Districts 2 and 4 voted no, and Black residents are 65% of the citizens of voting age in District 4.

What is open now. Sample County 1 hears its next $3 million round on April 14, and 6 in 10 residents who answered want child care near bus lines. Sample County 2 holds its budget hearing on June 2, and half of residents who answered want the housing money spent this year.

From the nation to your address. Both counties sit beside the state and the nation on every line, down to any home in either county and the officials who answer to it.

Each figure in a real report carries its official source and year.

Put two places side by side

Pick any two states, a state and the nation, or any two counties in the nation, in the same state or in different states. The better figure on each line is marked. Every line shows its year and its source.

Pick a place
Compare it with

This is one view of what we hold. A report for your organization goes further: the places you serve, the history behind each line, and who decides.

Next: tell us what you need ›

Start a conversation

Tell us your places and your question. We will show you what the record can answer today and what it will take to answer the rest.

SourceLine Insights will be a paid service. Pricing will be set as we complete the national platform. Tell us what you need now, and you will hear from us first.

We use what you send only to answer you. We never sell or share it.

About these figures

Every figure on this page shows the year it describes. Public agencies release their numbers on their own schedules, often a year or more after the work of counting is done. The Census Bureau, for example, publishes its five year community survey each December, and the national reading test is given every two years. That is why some figures are not from this year. SourceLine updates each one as soon as the agency publishes it.

For some counties and small towns, SourceLine has not found meeting records online. Where it has not, we add them as they become available. A page that says SourceLine hasn’t updated a record yet means exactly that.