Socioeconomic data for Forest Service 2020 RPA Assessment

These data provide observed county-level population and personal income data from 2010 and document the projections of those variables over the 2015-2070 period, in five-year increments, for five Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) that are the basis for 2020 Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment socioeconomic scenarios. The SSPs are more fully described in the “RPA socioeconomic scenarios summary” document provided in this publication’s Supplemental Information. These data cover the conterminous United States of America. These data are a key set of drivers that are used in multiple natural resource analyses done to meet the legislative requirements of the Forest and Rangeland RPA of 1974. Data from several sources were used to create the historical data and provide national scale guidance for the projections. In fulfillment of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, the USDA Forest Service periodically assesses the condition and trends of the Nation's renewable resources. These data support the development of future scenarios that are the basis for all resource analyses in the Assessment. Original metadata date was 09/16/2019. On 09/25/2019 the data and metadata were updated to include 2010 data. On 10/17/2023 metadata was updated to include reference to published RPA Assessment.