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.

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McDowell County — Social Vulnerability Index

Unofficial CDC-method recomputation, 2020–2024 ACS 5-year
McDowell County — Social Vulnerability Index by census tract
Shading: Overall SVI Percentile
Lower (25 to 36)Lower-middle (41 to 45)Middle (53 to 63)Upper-middle (64 to 66)Higher (71 to 92)
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: 63rd percentile (among all U.S. tracts).
These tracts span the 25th percentile to the 92nd percentile. The width of that range is the internal disparity.
Well above the median2 (17%) · 5,823 people
Above the median5 (42%) · 20,106 people
Near the median3 (25%) · 11,597 people
Below the median2 (17%) · 7,291 people
Well below the median0 (0%) · 0 people
Widest spread across these tracts: Household Characteristics — 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 9704.00 (pop. 2,269) — 92nd 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 (above).
Tract 9705.00 (pop. 3,554) — 82nd percentile — Well above the median
Driven by Household Characteristics (well above) and Housing Type & Transportation (well above); near the median on Socioeconomic Status; below the median on Racial & Ethnic Minority Status.
Tract 9703.00 (pop. 3,425) — 71st percentile — Above the median
Driven by Household Characteristics (above) and Housing Type & Transportation (well above); near the median on Socioeconomic Status; below the median on Racial & Ethnic Minority Status.
Tract 9701.01 (pop. 2,118) — 66th percentile — Above the median
Driven by Socioeconomic Status (above) and Housing Type & Transportation (above); near the median on Household Characteristics; below the median on Racial & Ethnic Minority Status.
Tract 9702.00 (pop. 5,158) — 64th percentile — Above the median
Driven by Socioeconomic Status (above) and Housing Type & Transportation (well above); below the median on Household Characteristics and Racial & Ethnic Minority Status.
Tract 9709.03 (pop. 5,533) — 63rd percentile — Above the median
Driven by Housing Type & Transportation (well above); near the median on Socioeconomic Status and Household Characteristics; below the median on Racial & Ethnic Minority Status.
Tract 9707.00 (pop. 3,872) — 62nd percentile — Above the median
Driven by Household Characteristics (above) and Housing Type & Transportation (above); near the median on Socioeconomic Status; below the median on Racial & Ethnic Minority Status.
Tract 9701.02 (pop. 3,412) — 53rd 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.
Tract 9706.00 (pop. 3,476) — 45th percentile — Near the median
Driven by Household Characteristics (above); near the median on Housing Type & Transportation; below the median on Socioeconomic Status and Racial & Ethnic Minority Status.
Tract 9708.00 (pop. 4,709) — 41st percentile — Near the median
Driven by Housing Type & Transportation (above); near the median on Socioeconomic Status; below the median on Household Characteristics and Racial & Ethnic Minority Status.
Tract 9709.04 (pop. 2,791) — 36th percentile — Below the median
Driven by Housing Type & Transportation (above); near the median on Household Characteristics; below the median on Socioeconomic Status and Racial & Ethnic Minority Status.
Tract 9709.02 (pop. 4,500) — 25th percentile — Below the median
Below the median on Socioeconomic Status, Household Characteristics, Racial & Ethnic Minority Status and Housing Type & Transportation.
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 all U.S. tracts. "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.

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