This section reviews the definitions and sources of the indicators used to describe health inequities in this platform. Some capture fundamental drivers of inequities (such as individual-level race ethnicity, neighborhood poverty, and city segregation) and others may capture the specific mechanisms through which fundamental causes affect inequities (e.g. overcrowding or insurance coverage).
INDIVIDUAL-LEVEL INDICATORS USED TO DESCRIBE INEQUITIES ACROSS PEOPLE
| Indicators | Description |
| NH White | Population that self-identified as non-Hispanic White. |
| NH Black | Population that self-identified as non-Hispanic Black. |
| Hispanic | Population that self-identified as Hispanic. |
| NH White | Population that self-identified as non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander. |
Neighborhood Level Indicators
| Indicators | Description |
| % Hispanic | Percentage of population that self-identified as Hispanic. |
| % NH White | Percentage of population that self-identified as non-Hispanic White. |
| % NH Black | Percentage of population that self-identified as non-Hispanic Black. |
| % NH Asian/PI | Percentage of population that self-identified as non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander. |
|
% Native American
|
Percentage of population that self-identified as
non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native.
|
| % Foreign Born | Percentage of persons that are foreign born. |
| Indicators | Description |
| Median HH Income | Median household income. |
| % Poverty |
Percentage of population with income below the poverty
level.
|
| Median House Value |
The median value of how much the owner-occupied property
(house and lot) would sell for if it were for sale.
|
| Indicators | Description |
| % Complete College |
Percent of population that completed college. The
percentages are obtained by dividing the counts of college
graduates by the total number of persons 25 years old and
over.
|
| % Complete High School |
Percent of population that completed high school. The
percentages are obtained by dividing the counts of high
school graduates by the total number of persons 25 years old
and over.
|
| Indicators | Description |
| % Healthcare Workers |
Percentage of the population age 16+ that work in healthcare
(Healthcare Practitioners, Technical Occupations, and
Healthcare Support Occupations).
|
| % Service Workers |
Percentage of the population age 16+ that work as service
workers (Food Preparation, Serving-related Occupations,
Personal Care and Service Occupations).
|
| % Production Workers |
Percentage of the population age 16+ that works as
production workers (Production Occupation).
|
| Indicators | Description |
|
ICE - Income |
The Index of Concentration at the extremes (ICE) captures the concentration of extremes of privilege and deprivation in a single metric. A value of 1 indicates that all residents in the area are in the privileged group and a value of -1 denotes that all residents are in the most deprived group. Privilege and deprivation can be defined in different ways. For the ICE-income privilege is defined as annual household (HH) income > 80th percentile ($100,000) in the American Community Survey (ACS). Deprivation is defined as HH income <20th percentile ($25,000). Citation: Krieger, Nancy, et al. "Public health monitoring of privilege and deprivation with the index of concentration at the extremes." American journal of public health 106.2 (2016): 256-263. |
| ICE - NH Black |
The Index of Concentration (ICE) for NH-Black defines the
most privileged group as non-Hispanic White and the least
privileged as non-Hispanic Black.
|
| ICE - Hispanic |
The Index of Concentration (ICE) for Hispanic defines the
most privileged group as non-Hispanic White and the least
privileged as Hispanic.
|
| ICE - Income + NH Black |
The Index of Concentration (ICE) for Income + NH Black
defines the most privileged group as non-Hispanic White with
income >$100,000 and the least privileged as NH Black with
income <$25,000.
|
|
ICE - Income + People of Color
|
Index of Concentration (ICE) for income and race/ethnicity
combined: the extreme groups are non-Hispanic White persons
whose HH income was greater than or equal to the 80th income
percentile or $100,000 (most privileged) versus non-Whites
whose households income was below the 20th income percentile
or $25,000 (least privileged). The denominator is the total
population with known income.
|
|
ICE - Occupation + Black
|
Index of Concentration for Occupation and race combined: the extreme groups are non-Hispanic White workers in “management, professional and related occupations” (which are largely amenable to work-from-home arrangements - most privileged) versus non-Hispanic Black or African American workers in “service, natural resources, construction, and maintenance operations or production occupations" (which are less amenable to work-from-home arrangements - least privileged). Denominator is the total Population 16 years and over with known occupation. Citation: Saha, Sudipta, and Justin M. Feldman. "Neighbourhood-level Racial/Ethnic and Economic Inequities in COVID-19 Burden Within Urban Areas in the US and Canada." medRxiv (2020). |
| Indicators | Description |
| % Using Public Transit |
Percentage of population that uses public transport
(excluding taxi) to travel to work.
|
| Indicators | Description |
| % Overcrowding > 1 |
Percentage of people living in housing units with greater
than 1 occupant per room.
|
|
% Housing With complete Plumbing
|
Percentage of all housing units that have complete plumbing
facilities.
|
| Indicators | Description |
| % Not Insured |
Percentage of population that is uninsured.
|
| Indicators | Description |
|
Social Vulnerability Index (SVI)
|
The Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) draws together 15
different measures of vulnerability using four themes:
Socioeconomic Status, Household Composition & Disability,
Minority Status & Language, Housing Type & Transportation.
Each neighborhood is ranked (relative to all neighborhoods
within a particular state of interest), and a percentile is
assigned, with higher values indicating greater
vulnerability.
Citation: Flanagan, Barry E., et al. "A social vulnerability index for disaster management." Journal of homeland security and emergency management 8.1 (2011). |
|
SVI – Socioeconomic Status
|
SVI score, specific to the theme of Socioeconomic Status
(below poverty, unemployed, income, no high school diploma).
|
|
SVI – Household Composition & Disability
|
SVI score, specific to the theme of Household Composition &
Disability (aged 65 or older, aged 17 or younger, older than
age 5 with a disability, single-parent households).
|
|
SVI – Minority Status & Language
|
SVI score, specific to the theme of Minority Status &
Language (non-White, speak English “less than well”).
|
|
SVI – Housing Type & Transportation
|
SVI score, specific to the theme of Housing Type &
Transportation (multi-unit structures, mobile homes,
crowding, no vehicle, group quarters).
|
| Indicators | Description |
|
COVID Local Risk Index
|
Neighborhood-level COVID risk index, reflecting social and
economic factors and health outcomes relative to other
neighborhoods on the Dashboard.
Citation: City Health Dashboard, incorporating data from the American Community Survey and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's PLACES Project and Social Vulnerability Index. This has been created by the City Health Dashboard project at NYU Langone’s Department of Population Health. More information is available here. |
City Level Indicators
| Indicators | Description |
| Census Bureau Region | 2010 United States Census Bureau definition of four statistical regions as detailed here. |
| Population size | Count of persons in the population. |
| Population Density | Number of persons in a population per square kilometer (# persons/km2). |
| % Hispanic | Percentage of population that self-identified as Hispanic. |
| % NH White | Percentage of population that self-identified as non-Hispanic White. |
| % NH Black | Percentage of population that self-identified as non-Hispanic Black. |
| % NH Asian/PI | Percentage of population that self-identified as non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander. |
|
% Native American
|
Percentage of population that self-identified as
non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native.
|
| % Foreign Born | Percentage of persons that are foreign born. |
| Indicators | Description |
| % Poverty |
Percentage of population with income below the poverty
level.
|
| GINI |
Gini Index of Income Inequality is a measure of income
inequality that summarizes the distribution of income across
the population. The Gini coefficient ranges from 0-1 where a
Gini coefficient of 0 indicates perfect equality (everyone
receives an equal share of the income) and 1 indicates
perfect inequality (one group receives all of the income).
|
| Indicators | Description |
| % Service Workers |
Percentage of the population age 16+ that work as service
workers (Food Preparation, Serving-related Occupations,
Personal Care and Service Occupations).
|
| % Production Workers |
Percentage of the population age 16+ that works as
production workers (Production Occupation).
|
| Indicators | Description |
|
Dissimilarity: NH-Black and NH-White.
|
The dissimilarity Index measures the fraction of one group
that would have to move to another area, in order to
equalize the population distribution. The index ranges
between 0 and 1, with 0 being full integration and 1 being
full segregation. Typically values over 0.5 are considered
to be very high levels of segregation. We used tract level
population estimates of NH-Whites and NH-Blacks to calculate
this index.
|
|
Dissimilarity: Hispanic and NH-White.
|
The dissimilarity Index measures the fraction of one group
that would have to move to another area, in order to
equalize the population distribution. The index ranges
between 0 and 1, with 0 being full integration and 1 being
full segregation. Typically values over 0.5 are considered
to be very high levels of segregation. We used tract level
population estimates of NH-Whites and Hispanics to calculate
this index.
|
| Isolation: NH-Black |
The isolation index is a probability that ranges between 0
and 1. Higher values (closer to 1), indicate more isolation
of the group, while values near 0 indicate less isolation.
We used tract level estimates of the non-Hispanic Black
population to calculate this index.
|
| Isolation: Hispanic |
The isolation index is a probability that ranges between 0
and 1. Higher values (closer to 1), indicate more isolation
of the group, while values near 0 indicate less isolation.
We used tract level estimates of the Hispanic population to
calculate this index.
|
| Indicators | Description |
|
Social Vulnerability Index (SVI)
|
The Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) draws together 15 different measures of vulnerability using four themes: Socioeconomic Status, Household Composition & Disability, Minority Status & Language, Housing Type & Transportation. Each city is ranked, and a percentile is assigned, with higher values indicating greater vulnerability.
Citation: Flanagan, Barry E., et al. "A social vulnerability index for disaster management." Journal of homeland security and emergency management 8.1 (2011). |
|
SVI – Socioeconomic Status
|
SVI score, specific to the theme of Socioeconomic Status
(below poverty, unemployed, income, no high school diploma).
|
|
SVI – Household Composition & Disability
|
SVI score, specific to the theme of Household Composition &
Disability (aged 65 or older, aged 17 or younger, older than
age 5 with a disability, single-parent households).
|
|
SVI – Minority Status & Language
|
SVI score, specific to the theme of Minority Status &
Language (non-White, speak English “less than well”).
|
|
SVI – Housing Type & Transportation
|
SVI score, specific to the theme of Housing Type &
Transportation (multi-unit structures, mobile homes,
crowding, no vehicle, group quarters).
|
| Indicators | Description |
|
% Overcrowding
|
Percentage of people living in housing units with greater
than 1 occupants per room.
|