Florida
Social Capital
Social capital refers to the strength and usefulness of our relationships with other people, including family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and institutions (such as schools, religious organizations, and civic organizations). Our sense of connectedness and the degree to which we cooperate with others, hold shared values and purposes, and trust one another are all part of social capital. While we often see and respect people as individuals, almost everything we do is accomplished through groups and therefore depends on our social relations. Throughout our history, Americans have been recognized for our active participation in civic groups and public affairs—from town hall meetings to marches—and volunteering for our favored causes.
Summary of Results.
Florida's progress in this area has been negative. In Florida, both volunteerism and trust in other people are worsening.
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VolunteerismSpecific Measure
Percentage of the population (age 16 and over) who have volunteered through an organization in the past year
(Source: Authors' analysis of Census Bureau data).State RankState vs. US trend47Why did we include this measure?
Civic and nonprofit groups play an important role in American society and often depend on volunteers to carry out their work. Our willingness to volunteer is also a sign of our sense of shared purpose and interest in contributing to our communities.
How does Florida compare to the rest of the country?
Although Florida's trend in volunteerism has been worsening while the US has been improving, it did not change in state ranking by two or more places. Therefore, we categorize Florida's comparison to the US as neutral or stable. In the most recent year, Florida ranked 47 (out of 51). In the same year, Utah ranked first, and Rhode Island ranked last.
Additional Information.
It is unclear why national volunteerism increased so quickly in 2017, but the fact that this occurred over two consecutive years and remained there until COVID suggests that it is probably not a data issue. We do not view the brief decline and rebound around the COVID pandemic as reflecting meaningful instability because social distancing rules precluded many forms of in-person activity, including some volunteer work. One reason that national volunteerism may be stable over the long run is that declines in volunteer work among middle-aged adults is being offset by the growing share of retirees and greater encouragement for high school and college students to volunteer.Florida State Trend Worsening
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Trust in Other PeopleSpecific Measure
Percentage of adults who report that other people can generally be trusted
(Source: Authors' analysis of the General Social Survey (GSS) data and IPUMS-harmonized ACS/CPS microdata).State RankState vs. US trend39Why did we include this measure?
We cannot have positive relations with each other, or in society as a whole, if we do not trust each other. This requires believing that others are generally honest, try to do the right thing, and do not take advantage of us. (We also include measures of trust in institutions elsewhere in the project.) We included this measure despite the fact that only 27 states have the measure available. To address this, we "inflated" the rank so that the lowest ranked state (27) is ranked 51. We report this in two ways. The "simple" method is a weighted average of the individual survey responses where the weights reflect the survey design. The "modeled" method also uses statistical patterns that arise across subgroups and states to adjust each state's estimate. This second method is motivated by small sample sizes on this measure in some states.
How does Florida compare to the rest of the country?
Florida's trend in trust in other people has been worsening more than the US. Compared to other states, Florida has also decreased in state ranking by two or more places. Therefore, we categorize Florida's comparison to the US as negative. In the most recent year, Florida ranked 39 (out of 51). In the same year, Wisconsin ranked first, and Mississippi ranked last.
Florida State Trend Worsening
How to Read This Report:
We report each measure three different ways: State Rank, State Trend, State vs. US Trend. Each result is color coded as either red (negative/worsening), yellow (neutral/stable), or green (positive/improving), as indicated below. If the simple trends were erratic, had too few data points, or had no data points, we do not color code and label the trend as “mixed,” "unclear," or "NA," respectively.
State Rank
(Where are we now?)
State Trend
(Where are we going?)
State vs. US Trend
(How do we compare?)
Top third of states
(i.e., ranks 1-17)
Improving
Trendline is improving by >5% and most points are improving relative to the first data point.
Improving
Trendline is improving relative to the national trend and rank is improving by 2+ rank spots.
Middle third of states
(i.e., ranks 18-34)
Neutral/Stable
Doesn't fall into improving, worsening, mixed, unclear, or NA categories.
Neutral/Stable
Trendline is improving/worsening the same amount as the national trend or rank is changing by <2 spots.
Bottom third of states
(i.e., ranks 35-51)
Worsening
Trendline is worsening by >5% and most points are worsening relative to the first data point.
Worsening
Trendline is worsening relative to national trend and rank is declining by 2+ rank spots
Mixed
Large shares of points are improving and worsening by >5% in different parts of the trend.
Mixed
This label only applies when a measure has more than 1 trendline. One trendline is improving and another is worsening.
Unclear
Not enough data to determine a trend.
Unclear
Not enough data to determine a comparison.
Not Applicable
No data.
Not Applicable
No data.
Not Applicable
No data.
For more information on our definitions and methods, please see the Data Notes section.
