METHODOLOGY
When assessing a community’s vibrancy, we take a data-driven approach, drawing on 13 unique measures which cover aspects of supply, demand, and public support for arts and culture, and are adjusted for cost of living and for population size. Arts Provider metrics are a gauge of supply and include the number of independent artists, arts and culture employees, nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, and arts, culture, and entertainment firms in the community. Arts Dollar metrics represent a gauge of demand for nonprofit arts and cultural programming, including earned revenue from program activities, contributed revenue supporting the arts, total compensation to artists and staff, and total expenses. Government grant activity is a gauge of public support for arts and culture, captured as the number and dollar amount of state and federal grants and total government grant dollars in the community. We adjust revenue and expense figures by a cost-of-living index.
