EPA National Walkability Index

The Walkability Index is intended to help address a growing demand for data products and tools that enable users to consistently compare multiple places based on their suitability for walking as a means of travel. It may be of use as source data for transportation or land use sketch planning tools. The Walkability Index dataset characterizes every Census 2010 block group in the U.S. based on its relative walkability. Walkability depends upon characteristics of the built environment that influence the likelihood of walking being used as a mode of travel. The Walkability Index is based on the EPA's previous data product, the Smart Location Database (SLD). Block group data from the SLD was the only input into the Walkability Index and consisted of four variables from the SLD weighted in a formula to create the new Walkability Index. This dataset shares the SLD's block group boundary definitions from Census 2010.