Social Vulnerability Index

CDC 2020 Social Vulnerability Index by US Census Track in cloud-optimized formats. Original data from https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/data_documentation_download.html

census

equity

pmtiles

geoparquet

Product Details

Visibility: Public
Owner: Carl Boettiger
Created: 24 Apr 2024
Last Updated: 15 Aug 2025

Product Contents

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README

Overview

The CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) uses U.S. Census data to determine the social vulnerability of every census tract and county. The SVI ranks each tract on 15 social factors, including poverty, lack of vehicle access, and crowded housing, and groups them into four related themes.

Data Formats & Access

Base URL: https://s3-west.nrp-nautilus.io/public-social-vulnerability/

1. GeoParquet & PMTiles

Data available for years 2000, 2010, 2020, and 2022 at County and Tract levels.

Path Pattern: {Year}/SVI{Year}_US_{Level}.parquet

Examples:

2020/SVI2020_US_county.parquet
2020/SVI2020_US_tract.parquet
2022/SVI2022_US_county.parquet

Data Dictionary

Key Ranking Columns (0 to 1)

These percentile ranking columns range from 0 (lowest vulnerability) to 1 (highest vulnerability).

Column	Description
`RPL_THEMES`	Overall Social Vulnerability Ranking (Sum of all themes)
`RPL_THEME1`	Socioeconomic Status (Below Poverty, Unemployed, Income, No High School Diploma)
`RPL_THEME2`	Household Characteristics (Aged 65+, Aged <17, Disability, Single-Parent, Limited English)
`RPL_THEME3`	Racial & Ethnic Minority Status (Hispanic, Black, Asian, Native American, etc.)
`RPL_THEME4`	Housing Type & Transportation (Multi-Unit, Mobile Homes, Crowding, No Vehicle, Group Quarters)

Variable Naming Convention

Columns use prefixes to denote the type of data:

E_: Estimate (Count) - e.g., E_POV (Count of persons below poverty)
M_: Margin of Error (Count) - e.g., M_POV
EP_: Estimate (Percentage) - e.g., EP_POV (% of persons below poverty)
MP_: Margin of Error (Percentage) - e.g., MP_POV
RPL_: Percentile Ranking (0-1) - e.g., RPL_THEME1
SPL_: Sum of Series - e.g., SPL_THEME1 (Sum of flags for theme 1)
F_: Flag (1 if > 90th percentile) - e.g., F_POV

Missing Data

Missing values are often coded as -999 in the original data or null in Parquet.

Source & Attribution

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) / Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

Citation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry/ Geospatial Research, Analysis, and Services Program. Social Vulnerability Index [Insert Year] Database US.

Detailed Documentation: