Social Vulnerability Index Recalculation

The Social Vulnerability Index Recalculation is based on the important work of the federal Centers for Disease Control. With the future of that index in doubt, the same federal datasets and methodologies were used to carry the index forward.

The most recent SVI uses the 2022 American Communities Survey as its base. This recalculation matches the 2022 baseline 100 percent. The 2022 methodologies form the basis of the updated calculations for subsequent ACS vintages. This platform will run updates on all new ACS releases.

Should the SVI be updated with changed methodologies, this platform will update to match, while preserving the 2022 methodologies for comparison purposes.

Compare

Dorchester County — Social Vulnerability Index

Unofficial CDC-method recomputation, 2020–2024 ACS 5-year
Dorchester County — Social Vulnerability Index by census tract
Where this is
Shading: Overall SVI Percentile
Lower (42)Lower-middle (49 to 50)Middle (61 to 72)Upper-middle (76 to 77)Higher (86 to 100)
Each unit is shaded by its Overall SVI Percentile value and grouped into equal-count bands (quantiles) against the other units shown — lighter = lower, darker = higher. It ranks position among the units in view; it does not grade places, and the ranges shift with which units are shown.

The map is bounded to this parent geography — it shows the selected unit among its own siblings only, the same depth rule the drill-down uses. Shading ranks position on the measure among the units shown; it does not grade places.

Click a tract to see its overall percentile and theme scores.

Median tract: 72nd percentile (among tracts in MD).
These tracts span the 42nd percentile to the 100th percentile. The width of that range is the internal disparity.
Well above the median2 (22%) · 8,900 people
Above the median4 (44%) · 16,629 people
Near the median3 (33%) · 7,225 people
Below the median0 (0%) · 0 people
Well below the median0 (0%) · 0 people
Widest spread across these tracts: Housing Type & Transportation — this theme most separates the higher- and lower-ranked tracts here.

The SVI ranks each tract's position relative to a comparison set; it is not averaged into one number for the area, because percentiles do not average meaningfully. The distribution — median, range, and shape below — is the summary.
Tract 9705.00 (pop. 3,988) — 100th percentile — Well above the median CDC-based flag ≥ 90th percentile
Driven by Socioeconomic Status (well above), Household Characteristics (well above), Racial & Ethnic Minority Status (above) and Housing Type & Transportation (well above).
Tract 9706.00 (pop. 4,912) — 86th percentile — Well above the median
Driven by Socioeconomic Status (well above), Racial & Ethnic Minority Status (above) and Housing Type & Transportation (well above); near the median on Household Characteristics.
Tract 9704.00 (pop. 3,386) — 77th percentile — Above the median
Driven by Socioeconomic Status (well above) and Housing Type & Transportation (above); near the median on Household Characteristics; below the median on Racial & Ethnic Minority Status.
Tract 9702.00 (pop. 5,688) — 76th percentile — Above the median
Driven by Socioeconomic Status (above), Household Characteristics (above) and Housing Type & Transportation (well above); below the median on Racial & Ethnic Minority Status.
Tract 9703.00 (pop. 4,399) — 72nd percentile — Above the median
Driven by Socioeconomic Status (above), Household Characteristics (well above) and Housing Type & Transportation (above); below the median on Racial & Ethnic Minority Status.
Tract 9701.00 (pop. 3,156) — 61st percentile — Above the median
Driven by Socioeconomic Status (above) and Household Characteristics (well above); below the median on Racial & Ethnic Minority Status and Housing Type & Transportation.
Tract 9709.00 (pop. 1,302) — 50th percentile — Near the median
Driven by Socioeconomic Status (above) and Household Characteristics (above); below the median on Racial & Ethnic Minority Status and Housing Type & Transportation.
Tract 9708.04 (pop. 1,823) — 49th percentile — Near the median
Near the median on Socioeconomic Status, Household Characteristics and Housing Type & Transportation; below the median on Racial & Ethnic Minority Status.
Tract 9707.02 (pop. 4,100) — 42nd percentile — Near the median
Driven by Household Characteristics (above) and Housing Type & Transportation (above); below the median on Socioeconomic Status and Racial & Ethnic Minority Status.
1 tract unranked — no population or suppressed
These carry no percentile (zero-population or suppressed data, typically water and special-use tracts). They are excluded from the bands, median and range above, and are never shown as a low score.
SVI = the CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index, recomputed by this platform from American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates using CDC's published method. Percentiles rank each tract against tracts in MD. "Vulnerability" is the name of CDC's index; the platform reports where a place ranks on it, and does not grade places or their residents.
Top-decile flags follow CDC's own convention (≥ 90th percentile) and are attributed as such; they are not part of an official CDC distribution.

Scroll to Top