Spotlighting the CEV Series: 

Engaging with Neighbors

About the Series

Spotlighting the CEV Series 

explores important findings 

from the Civic Engagement 

and Volunteering (CEV) 

Supplement of the Current 

Population Survey. Conducted 

by the U.S. Census Bureau in 

partnership with AmeriCorps, 

the CEV is a nationally 

representative, valuable 

resource for understanding 

various types of civic 

engagement over time. It has 

been administered biennially 

since 2017 with related

datasets going as far back as 

2002. CEV data can support 

actionable insights and datadriven decision making.

This series will explore six key 

constructs from the 2021 CEV: 

Organizational Engagement, 

Informal Helping and 

Conversation, Local Collective 

Action, Engaging with Issues, 

Economic Engagement, and 

Political Engagement.

Engaging with neighbors is an essential aspect of civic engagement.

Volunteering with organizations or voting in elections are often the first 

things that come to mind when we think about civic engagement. 

Interacting with neighbors is another form of civic engagement that

makes a difference in one's community. Engaging with neighbors can 

include taking collective action together, exchanging favors informally, 

discussing social issues—or simply saying hello. All of these behaviors

are crucial for bolstering social cohesion and social capital within 

communities. 

As part of the “Spotlighting the CEV” series, this key findings brief 

explores national trends in engaging with neighbors from 2019 to 2021.

In many ways, Americans engaged with their neighbors similarly 

before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In September 2021—eighteen months into a global pandemic—about 

70 percent of Americans reported that they have conversations or 

spend time with their neighbors and 30 percent said they discuss 

social issues with their neighbors. Additionally, about 50 percent of 

Americans reported that they informally help their neighbors by 

exchanging favors such as house sitting or lending tools. The share of 

Americans engaging in each of these civic behaviors in the past year 

was virtually identical in 2019. 

Source for figure: Analysis conducted by the Office of Research and Evaluation, AmeriCorps, 

Civic Engagement and Volunteering (2019–2021) Supplement data, U.S. Census Bureau. 

Produced and published at US taxpayer expense.
The share of Americans who engaged with their neighbors by taking collective action together 

decreased from 2019 to 2021. 

The CEV asks survey respondents if they have gotten together with other people from their 

neighborhood to do something positive for their neighborhood or the community in the past year. The 

rate of Americans who reported taking collective action with neighbors declined by approximately 12.5 

percent (a decrease of 2.6 percentage points) between 2019 and 2021. Since taking collective action is 

strongly associated with more informal ways of engaging with neighbors, encouraging interactions as 

simple as saying hello can help rebuild neighborhood capacity to take collective action moving forward.

Explore the Data 

The CEV data is available for public use. Visit the AmeriCorps Open Data portal at

https://data.americorps.gov. For more information about the CEV data and findings, please reach out to 

the AmeriCorps Office of Research and Evaluation at AmeriCorpsCEV@americorps.gov. 

What’s Next?

The AmeriCorps Office of Research and Evaluation and its partners are exploring the CEV data’s 

implications for AmeriCorps programming and civic engagement in America more broadly. Ongoing 

research is exploring how various civic behaviors cluster together and how the impact of COVID-19 on 

civic engagement rates varies by geography. 

About the Office of Research and Evaluation

The AmeriCorps Office of Research and Evaluation assists AmeriCorps and its partners in collecting, 

analyzing, and disseminating data and insights about AmeriCorps programs and civic life in America.

About AmeriCorps

AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, provides opportunities for 

Americans to serve their country domestically, address the nation’s most pressing challenges, improve 

lives and communities, and strengthen civic engagement. Each year, the agency places more than 

200,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in intensive service roles; and

empowers millions more to serve as long-term, short-term, or one-time volunteers. Learn more at 

AmeriCorps.gov. 

Produced and published at US taxpayer expense.