Standards and principles

California Data Standard

Introduction

Collecting and analyzing data is essential for ensuring California state government programs and policies serve all residents fairly and effectively. When state agencies lack reliable data about how Californians access and experience their services, they may unintentionally overlook or increase gaps in effective services, creating inefficiencies and limiting the effectiveness of state funding. Good data collection allows agencies to identify differences in participation, outcomes, and quality of services across California's diverse communities and regions and take targeted action to ensure all eligible Californians can fairly access government programs and services.

For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Department of Public Health’s ability to collect and analyze vaccination data using equity metrics like the Healthy Places Index helped them recognize gaps in vaccine access across different race and ethnicity groups. This allowed for the implementation of targeted solutions, like establishing vaccination sites in the most impacted neighborhoods and partnering with community organizations to reach underserved populations.

Collecting this data must be done thoughtfully and responsibly, with a clear purpose and strong protections for privacy and confidentiality.

California state agencies should utilize data on race, ethnicity, income, zip codes and other demographic information to improve state programs’ and services’ effectiveness and efficiencies in reaching and supporting all eligible Californians.
The data collection process should respect Californians’ individual decision-making and privacy by making responses voluntary and explaining in plain language how the data will be used.
Engaging directly with communities through partnerships with local organizations and customer feedback can help ensure effective and efficient data collection methods that reflect California's unique demographic diversity.

Demographic and geographic data collection and analysis can be powerful tools for making California state government programs work better for all of California's residents.

Example

Scope of responsibilities for State users

This order does not mandate the new collection of any race, ethnicity, income, zip code, or other demographic data. However, all state agencies and departments currently collecting demographic data should begin planning to implement this standard within existing resources.

Existing systems may be unable to meet the data standard due to technical limitations or upgrading costs. Any new systems or replacement systems should implement this standard.

This standard is designed to be flexible enough to meet a large majority of state departments’ existing reporting requirements. However, it does not supersede other legally required data collection standards particular to individual departments.

Data categories

Respondents should be offered a single combined race and ethnicity question that allows them to select one category or multiple categories. A single selection will be considered a complete response.
State departments and agencies should use the 7 top-level categories defined in Table 1 in their race and ethnicity data collection.

Table 1: Top-level set of race and ethnicity categories

Top-level category	Definition
American Indian or Alaska Native	Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of North, Central, and South America, including, for example, Navajo Nation, Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government, Nome Eskimo Community, Aztec, and Maya.
Asian	Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of Central or East Asia, Southeast Asia, or South Asia, including, for example, Chinese, Asian Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese.
Black or African American	Individuals with origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa, including, for example, African American, Jamaican, Haitian, Nigerian, Ethiopian, and Somali.
Hispanic or Latino	Includes individuals of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, Cuban, Dominican, Guatemalan, and other Central or South American or Spanish culture or origin.
Middle Eastern or North African	Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of the Middle East or North Africa, including, for example, Lebanese, Iranian, Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi, and Israeli.
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander	Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands, including, for example, Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Chamorro, Tongan, Fijian, and Marshallese.
White	Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, including, for example, English, German, Irish, Italian, Polish, and Scottish.

Table 2 below is a recommended set of detailed category groups ordered by population prevalence within each top-level category within the state of California. These population figures are based on the 2020 Decennial Census Detailed Race/Ethnicity population estimates for California contained in the DHC-A.

The top six (6) most populous subgroups within each top-level category within California are listed as checkbox options, with the next three (3) most populous groups listed as examples preceding the write-in option.

Note: The Asian top-level category has 8 options due to state code requirements specified in 8310.5.

Table 2: Detailed set of race and ethnicity categories

Category	Detailed categories
American Indian or Alaska Native	Write-in option
Asian	Chinese Filipino Asian Indian Vietnamese Korean Japanese Cambodian Laotian Another group not listed (for example, Taiwanese, Hmong, Pakistani): __
Black or African American	African American Nigerian Jamaican Ethiopian Haitian South African Another group not listed (for example, Eritrean, Ghanaian, Kenyan): __
Hispanic or Latino	Mexican Salvadoran Guatemalan Puerto Rican Spaniard/Spanish Peruvian Another group not listed (for example, Nicaraguan, Honduran, Cuban): __
Middle Eastern or North African	Iranian Lebanese Egyptian Israeli Iraqi Syrian Another group not listed (for example, Palestinian, Jordanian, Moroccan): __
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander	Native Hawaiian Samoan Chamorro Fijian Tongan Marshallese Another group not listed (for example, Palauan, Tahitian, Maori): __
White	English German Irish Italian Scottish French Another group not listed (for example, Polish, Swedish, Russian): __

Note: The Federal SPD-15 guidelines recommend including a write-in option only for American Indian or Alaska Native. Alternatively, departments may consider the following three subcategory write-in options for the AIAN category for encouraging the collection of detailed categories of AIAN communities. These categories were derived at the recommendation of the Natives Count working group.

North American Indian or Alaska Native – Includes all individuals who identify with any of the original peoples of North America other than the First Nations of Canada. (For example, Cherokee, Navajo Nation, Tlingit, Yup’ik): ___
Canadian First Nations – Includes all individuals who identify with any of the original peoples of Canada and its First Nations. (For example, Cree Canadian, Mohawk Kahnawake, Six Nations of the Grand River): ___
Caribbean, South or Central American Indian – Includes all individuals who identify with any of the original peoples of the Caribbean, South America, or Central America. (For example, Aztec, Inca, Maya, Taino): ___

Data standard governance

For the purposes of this standard, we adopt the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) SPD-15 standard definition of race and ethnicity in that these terms “are understood to be socio-political constructs and are not an attempt to define race and ethnicity biologically or genetically.”

These categories should not be used to discriminate between population groups or to determine their eligibility for participation in State programs.

Alignment with existing frameworks

Building on the foundation of existing research and best practices, this California race and ethnicity data standard offers guidance on demographic data collection best practices to help state departments effectively serve Californians by reflecting the diversity of California’s communities. This guidance also incorporates race and ethnicity data collection requirements specified in state code for California state departments and agencies.

In particular, the race and ethnicity categories described in this standard draw from extensive statistical testing and stakeholder engagement conducted by the Census Bureau in the 2015 National Content Test (NCT) and the OMB’s SPD-15 revision in 2024. The California race and ethnicity data standard adopts the same structure as the OMB 2024 SPD-15 race and ethnicity data collection and supports tabulation and reporting of data collections to meet anticipated federal reporting requirements. Adopting the California race and ethnicity data standard also demonstrates compliance with the federal SPD-15 race and ethnicity data standard.

As best practices and statutory requirements shift, this data standard will be updated over time to reflect new changes.

Iterative release process

As part of a wider framework on demographic data collection and analysis, this race and ethnicity data standard will be updated and refined through an iterative release process. These updates will be informed by stakeholder engagement and feedback synthesis with state users.

Any future additional demographic data standards will integrate with this race and ethnicity data standard to ensure interoperability and cross-sectional analysis.

Further detailed guidance and resources for users of this standard will be released through a separate toolkit. This toolkit is intended to be a complementary resource to the race and ethnicity data standard and will be updated on an ongoing basis based on community engagement, user feedback, and evolving best practices in the field.

This toolkit will eventually offer guidelines on bridging data collected between differing data standards, data collection templates for simplifying adoption of this data standard, and best practice guidance for developing metrics and analyzing demographic data to identify where programs are not reaching all eligible Californians and improve state programs effectiveness.