Social Vulnerability Index for the state of Oregon (2020 ACS data)

Senate Bill 762, Oregon’s 2021 omnibus wildfire bill, directed Oregon State University to conduct a wildfire risk assessment including mapping socially vulnerable communities to help inform decisions and allocate resources related to state wildfire prevention, response, and recovery. This dataset was curated to identify socially vulnerable communities and largely follows the methodologies of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Social Vulnerability Index initially developed by Flanagan et al. (2011) for disaster management. The dataset includes 15 individual social and economic indicators, four social vulnerability themes, and an overall vulnerability score all derived from the 2016-2020 5 year American Community Survey (ACS) estimates. Information on the reliability of ACS data used to calculate social vulnerability is also provided. The data are available at three levels of US Census geography: block groups, tracts, and county subdivisions. The R code used to extract and curate the data tables are provided along with technical documentation detailing methods and analysis.