From the Old Pueblo

Tucson Daily Brief

The Tucson news you’d otherwise miss, by Nicholas De Leon.

Tracking

Tracking the Prosperity Initiative dashboard

On Sept. 21, 2026, the City of Tucson and Pima County launched a public dashboard for the Prosperity Initiative, their shared plan to reduce generational poverty. It is built on data services anyone can query. Tucson Daily Brief reads them once a day, keeps every copy, and lists every change here, so the question of whether the dashboard is maintained has a public answer. Last checked 9:50 AM MST on Sep. 22, 2026. The dashboard itself.

The board today

Rows in the indicator table
35
the release says 30 headline indicators
Complete
28
2 in progress, 5 awaiting data
Newest data year
2023
columns run 2013–2023
Numeric targets
0
no target field exists in the data
Dashboard last edited
Sep. 16, 2026
the ArcGIS application's own timestamp
Changes we have logged
0
since Sept. 22, 2026

Jump to: What they said · The indicators · Evictions · Change log

What they said they would do

Quoted from the county's own reports to the Board of Supervisors and the launch release. Each status is derived from the data where the data can answer it; the rest are dated and left open.

  • “These indicators will be reviewed at least annually and updated as needed.”

    Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher, annual Prosperity Initiative report to the Board, Jan. 21, 2025

    Status: Open. The table holds values for 2013, 2018, 2023; nothing newer than 2023 as of Sep. 22, 2026. We check daily.

  • “The next step will be developing a comprehensive written guide for management of these data, and documenting the current “baseline” statistic for each of the measures.”

    Same report, Jan. 21, 2025

    Status: Open. No guide is linked from the dashboard or published on pima.gov as of our last look. Asked Sept. 22, 2026.

  • “Release public-facing data dashboard reporting progress on impact indicators (projected go-live: Aug. 2026)”

    Prosperity Office update to the County Administrator, March 5, 2026

    Status: Done. Launched Sept. 21, 2026, three weeks past the projected August go-live.

  • “This internet resource will display the current indicator statistics as a baseline and will provide some information about the trends as well as the desired direction of change.”

    Same update, March 5, 2026

    Status: Partly. The dashboard shows 2013, 2018 and 2023 values side by side; no desired direction is encoded in the data.

  • “Identify specific goals for implementation progress, with clear milestones and measurable targets”

    Same update, March 5, 2026

    Status: Open. No target or goal field exists in the indicator data. The March 2026 update says targets come in calendar 2027.

  • “The dashboard combines 30 headline indicators linked to the Prosperity Initiative’s 13 adopted policies”

    Joint City of Tucson and Pima County news release, Sept. 21, 2026

    Status: The public table behind it has 35 rows: 28 complete, 2 in progress, 5 awaiting data. Which 30 are the headline set is not marked. Asked Sept. 22, 2026.

The indicators, as published

Every row of the table behind the dashboard, in its own order and with its own status labels. Values are shown as published; bare fractions are expressed as percentages. Where a row's values come from years other than the column headers, the dashboard's own note is shown under the indicator.

Overall goals

IndicatorStatusPima 2013Pima 2018Pima 2023Tucson 2013Tucson 2018Tucson 2023
Child Poverty rate
Overall Goal · Census ACS 5 year estimates
Complete26.825.1%18.7%33.6%31.4%24.3%
Percent of households that are housing cost burdened.
Overall Goal · Census ACS 5 year estimates
Complete36.5%31.9%31.8%41.4%37.5%36.9%
Poverty rate for all of Pima County
Overall Goal · Census ACS 5 year estimates
Complete19.2%17.8%14.4%25.2%23.4%18.8%

Housing

IndicatorStatusPima 2013Pima 2018Pima 2023Tucson 2013Tucson 2018Tucson 2023
Percent of Children experiencing poverty who live in high-poverty neighborhoods
Housing Supply and Opportunity · Census ACS 5 year estimates
Complete29.0%26.0%21.0%25.1%24.0%24.5%
Percent of People experiencing poverty who live in high-poverty neighborhoods
Housing Supply and Opportunity · Census ACS 5 year estimates
Complete26.4%14.4%8.8%37.4%37.0%16.7%
Ratio of multifamily housing (non-single family detached) to single family housing, especially in low poverty neighborhoods
Housing Supply and Opportunity · Census ACS 5 year estimates
Complete14.9% Multifamily | 76.6% Single Family15.3% Multifamily | 76.0% Single Family17.9% Multifamily | 74.6% Single Family23.6% Multifamily | 71.2% Single Family21.5% Multifamily | 72.2% Single Family26.9% Multifamily | 69.5% Single Family
# of High Poverty Neighborhoods
Quality of Life/Neighborhood Reinvestment · Census ACS 5 year estimates
Complete564728504125
Child opportunity index
Quality of Life/Neighborhood Reinvestment · Diversity Data Kids
Complete10/10019/10024/100n/an/an/a
Number of affordable and available rental units for every 100 extremely-low income renters
Housing Stability · Urban Institute Upward Mobility Initiative
Values from 2014 (for 2013)
Complete53 (2014)483858 (2014)5036
Number of eviction court filings per 100 renter households
Housing Stability · Pima County Emergency Eviction Legal Services (EELS)
In progressn/a6.98.9n/an/an/a

Health

IndicatorStatusPima 2013Pima 2018Pima 2023Tucson 2013Tucson 2018Tucson 2023
Percent of population without health care Coverage
Health Insurance Coverage · Census ACS 5 year estimates
Complete14.8%9.9%8.9%18.2%12.0%11.0%
Percentage of women with a recent live birth who did not want to become pregnant or wanted to become pregnant later.
Unintended Pregnancies · Health Department
Values are from 2022 and 2021
Completen/a40.6%39.7%n/a?n/a?n/a?
% of female clients that use the most effective form of birth control
Unintended Pregnancies · Health Department
Values are from 2022 and 2021
Completen/a66.5%63.2%n/a?n/a?n/a?

Education

IndicatorStatusPima 2013Pima 2018Pima 2023Tucson 2013Tucson 2018Tucson 2023
3rd grade reading proficiency
Access to Quality Early Care and Education · Cradle to Career
Completen/a43.0%37.0%n/an/an/a
Percentage of children age birth to 5 years old who are enrolled in high-quality care and education.
Access to Quality Early Care and Education · Cradle to Career
Completen/a24.7%33.4%n/an/an/a
Number of open 529 accounts in high poverty zip codes (Roth IRA accounts for higher education)
Post Secondary Education · AZ State Treasurer's Office
Value is from 2025. Pima 2023 is total pima county and Pima 2018 is high poverty areas
Completen/a37465n/an/an/a
Post secondary education enrollment rate for high school graduates
Post Secondary Education · Cradle to Career
Completen/a53.2%48.4%n/an/an/a

Jobs

IndicatorStatusPima 2013Pima 2018Pima 2023Tucson 2013Tucson 2018Tucson 2023
Transportation costs as a percentage of household income
Transportation · Center for Neighborhood Technology Housing and Transportation Affordability Index
Values are from 2022, 2019 and 2015
Awaiting data26.7%25.7%22.5%24.5%23.5%21.3%
Transportation costs for lower income households
Transportation · Center for Neighborhood Technology Housing and Transportation Affordability Index
Values are from 2022, 2019 and 2015
Awaiting data28.6%29.7%26.3%26.1%27.1%24.9%
Share of households without an internet subscription at the County level and for high poverty areas.
Digital Inclusion · Census ACS 5 year estimates
Completen/a26.3%15.9%n/a24.9%15.0%
Share of households with a broadband internet subscription and a computer in the home
Digital Inclusion · Census ACS 5 year estimates
Completen/a82.7%90.4%n/a79.9%88.8%
16-24 yrs olds not in school and not working
Workforce Development · Census ACS 1 Year Estimates Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS)
Completen/a13.0%12.0%n/an/an/a
Unemployment rate - total number unemployed as a percent of the civilian labor force.
Workforce Development · Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED)
In progress7.4 (July)4.84.1
Access to jobs paying a living wage
Job Quality · Urban Institute Upward Mobility Initiative
Awaiting datan/an/a
Median Household Income
Job Quality · Census ACS 5 year estimates
Complete45,84151,03767,92937,03241,62554,546
Median Wage *Look at full distribution*
Job Quality · U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via Making Action Possible (MAP) for Southern Arizona
Completen/an/an/a32,49035,43046,450
Median Wage over 16 years old (ACS)
Job Quality · Census ACS 5 year estimates
Complete26,13227,91937,64222,39124,26933,866
Auto Debt
Financial Capability · Urban Institute
Value is from 2025
Complete6.0%
Medical Debt
Financial Capability · Urban Institute
Value is from 2025
Complete13.0%
Student Debt
Financial Capability · Urban Institute
Value is from 2025
Complete4.0%
Total Debt
Financial Capability · Urban Institute
Value is from 2025
Complete32.4%24.0%
Number of minority-owned businesses
Small Business · —
Awaiting dataDon’t have yetDon’t have yetDon’t have yet
Number of small businesses in high-poverty areas
Small Business · —
Awaiting dataDon’t have yetDon’t have yetDon’t have yet

Cross-policy

IndicatorStatusPima 2013Pima 2018Pima 2023Tucson 2013Tucson 2018Tucson 2023
Property Crime Rate
Reducing Crime · Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS)
Values are from 2025, 2024, and 2023
Complete3223 per 100,0002815 per 100,0002635 per 100,0004203 per 100,0003649 per 100,0003459 per 100,000
Violent Crime Rate
Reducing Crime · Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS)
Values are from 2025, 2024, 2023
Complete474 per 100,000427 per 100,000416 per 100,000724 per 100,000639 per 100,000645 per 100,000

Eviction filings, 2021–2025

The one series on the dashboard that moves year to year. The source is the county's Emergency Eviction Legal Services program, not the Justice Courts directly; the per-1,000 rates are the dashboard's own. Tucson holds 52% of the county's population (2024).

YearTucson filingsper 1,000 peoplePima County filingsper 1,000 peopleTucson share
20212,8635.33,6063.579%
20229,92718.412,27711.881%
202310,84420.013,35012.781%
20249,35917.111,45210.882%
20258,42215.410,5029.980%

Change log

No change in the data since we began checking on Sept. 22, 2026. 2 checks so far, one a day. When a value, a status, a row or the application itself changes, it will be listed here with the date we saw it.

About this page

The dashboard is an ArcGIS application published by the City of Tucson's GIS office. Its data lives in seven public feature services on the city's ArcGIS organization; this page reads all seven once a day, plus the application's own last-modified timestamp, and compares each row and field with the previous day's copy. A change is a string comparison, nothing more. Statuses in the "What they said" section are computed from the same fields. The county's progress reports quoted above are linked in full. Corrections: talk to us.

No AI model was used on this page: every figure is read by Tucson Daily Brief's own code from the public ArcGIS data services behind the City of Tucson and Pima County's Prosperity Initiative Indicator Dashboard, compared with the previous day's copy, and logged when it changes. Last checked 9:50 AM MST on September 22, 2026. Read more about how this is made.