Building and maintaining a prosperous, healthy, and livable community requires honest and repeated selfassessment. We must constantly measure the progress we are making toward the realization of our shared Countywide Vision. That is the purpose of this annual San Bernardino County Community Indicators Report. The 2015 report marks our sixth consecutive year of taking an objective look at our large and diverse county, specifically our economy, our schools, healthcare, public safety, environment, and our overall quality of life. These are the interrelated and interdependent elements of the “complete county” upon which our Vision is based. The idea behind making this report an annual effort is to measure our performance and detect trends so that the community can assess and refine its efforts toward achieving the Vision. After six years, we can see the progress we are making and where more work needs to be done. For example, the high school dropout rate has fallen seven percentage points since we began tracking it, and the number of high school graduates eligible for entrance to a University of California or California State University campus continues to grow. Unemployment remains on the decline, the recovery of the housing market is marching forward, and tourism employment in our county is higher than ever, with more than 50,000 jobs attributable to this industry. However, our national ranking as a good place to do business has declined, which could mean that the rest of the nation has not yet caught on to the great things happening in our county. We hope this report inspires government leaders, business people, community and faith-based organizations, and others to come together and discuss strategies that are working so we may work together to bring those strategies to scale to serve our entire county. The Community Indicators Report reflects an ongoing, annual commitment by our county to raise awareness and build stronger collaborative initiatives that address systemic challenges. This report provides a timely framework for understanding the elements of our county as an interrelated system that offers a superior quality of life and serves as a magnet for investment. The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors appreciates your interest and involvement, and we encourage you to use the information contained in this report to help us achieve our shared Countywide Vision. Sincerely,
Supervisor James Ramos Chairman, Board of Supervisors
