The U.S. Census Bureau has published the 2024 Community Resilience Estimates (CRE), identifying areas in the United States with high levels of social vulnerability to natural disasters. The data is designed to assist local planners, policymakers, public health officials, disaster management professionals, and community stakeholders as they develop strategies for mitigation and recovery in response to various hazards.
For the first time, this release includes social vulnerability rankings for every county and census tract across the country by specific natural hazard types. It also introduces estimates for metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas. These new additions aim to provide a more detailed understanding of how different regions may be affected by disasters such as winter weather events, flooding, hurricanes, strong winds, wildfires, and earthquakes.
The CRE provides estimates on population levels by degree of social vulnerability at national, state, regional (core-based statistical areas), county, and tract levels. The publication features an interactive map and tables that spotlight the 25 most socially vulnerable counties and the top 100 tracts with at least a “relatively moderate” rating for anticipated economic losses due to certain hazards.
According to the Census Bureau: “Social vulnerability constitutes various adverse factors that can compound the negative impact of a disaster and that inhibit community resilience. These can be demographic, socioeconomic, or health characteristics of individuals and households in the community. The estimates and rankings are useful for local planners, policymakers, public health officials, disaster management professionals, and community stakeholders who plan mitigation and recovery strategies in the event of a disaster.”
Community resilience is defined as the ability of individuals and households within a community to absorb external stresses caused by disasters. To calculate these estimates for 2024, the Census Bureau used American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year microdata combined with population figures from its Population Estimates Program along with other census files.
Social vulnerability was measured using ten ACS topics: poverty status; number of caregivers per household; unit-level crowding; communication barriers; unemployment; disability status; health insurance coverage; age; vehicle access; and broadband internet access. Natural hazard ratings were sourced from FEMA’s March 2023 National Risk Index.
Data sets from this release are available through multiple platforms including data.census.gov as well as on the CRE datasets webpage.
“New for this release are the CRE social vulnerability rankings for every county and census tract in the United States by natural hazard type. In addition, estimates for metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas are available for the first time. The CRE includes estimates of the population by level of social vulnerability for the nation, states, core-based statistical areas, counties, and tracts,” according to information provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
No separate news release was issued alongside this product.
