The U.S. Census Bureau has released the 2024 Community Resilience Estimates (CRE), which identify areas in the United States that are most socially vulnerable to natural disasters. The CRE provides new rankings for every county and census tract, categorized by different types of natural hazards such as winter weather, flooding, hurricanes, strong winds, wildfires, and earthquakes.
According to the Census Bureau, social vulnerability is defined by factors that can worsen the impact of a disaster and hinder a community’s ability to recover. These factors include demographic, socioeconomic, or health characteristics at both individual and household levels. The new estimates are intended to assist local planners, policymakers, public health officials, disaster management professionals, and community stakeholders in developing mitigation and recovery strategies.
For this year’s release, the CRE includes for the first time estimates for metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas. It also features an interactive map and tables that highlight the top 25 most socially vulnerable counties and the top 100 tracts with at least a “relatively moderate” rating for expected economic losses due to various hazards.
The data is available for download on the CRE datasets webpage as well as through data.census.gov and the Census API webpage.
The methodology uses 2024 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year microdata combined with population estimates from several sources including the Population Estimates Program and files from previous censuses. Social vulnerability is measured using ten ACS topics: poverty status, number of caregivers in a household, unit-level crowding, communication barriers, unemployment rates, disability status, health insurance coverage gaps, age demographics, vehicle access limitations, and broadband internet availability. Hazard ratings are sourced from FEMA’s National Risk Index published in March 2023.
“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,” according to information provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
“Community resilience is the capacity of individuals and households within a community to absorb the external stresses of a disaster,” according to information provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The CRE offers detailed insights into how different communities across geographic levels may face challenges recovering from disasters based on their specific vulnerabilities.
