Arts Vibrancy Index

The National Center for Arts Research is offering an interactive map of arts ratings county by country across all of the United States. Each county receives a  score out of 100 that works like a percentile in five main areas, which are Arts Dollars, Arts Providers, Government Support, Socio-economic, and Other Leisure. If your county receives a score of 56, it did better than 56% of counties in that area.

Each of the main groups includes ratings for sub-measures within them. In Arts Dollars, program revenue, expenses, and compensation are measured. For Arts Providers, organizations, independent artists, and employment are looked at. Some of the other individual metrics are state and federal grant dollars, poverty and education levels, and hotel, restaurant, and zoo rankings.

Overall, this map is very helpful, as it allows counties to compare themselves to surrounding counties, themselves over time, or even nationally. Individuals can also use this map to learn more about their own county, or one which they are thinking of moving to or visiting.