VT Social Vulnerability Index

The Vermont Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) is produced by the Vermont Department of Health and draws together 16 measures of vulnerability into a single index. For each measure, census tracts above the 90th percentile, or the 10% most vulnerable tracts, are assigned a vulnerability flag. The overall index is measured as the count of vulnerability flags in each census tract.<br /><br />All data is acquired from American Community Survey 5-year estimate data, 2016-2020. A downloadable files include measured percentage, percentile rank, margin of error, and relative standard error for each indicator per census tract.<br /><br />The 16 vulnerability measures: population below federal poverty level; population unemployed; income per capita; population without a high school degree; population without health insurance; population age 0-17; population age 65+; population with disability; households with children headed by single parent; population persons of color; population with limited English; housing units in large apartment buildings of 10+ units; housing units mobile homes; housing units with crowding ( &gt;1 person/ bedroom); population without vehicle access; population living in group quarters.<br /><br />It is important to remember that the SVI is just the first step in screening populations that may be more or less vulnerable. Depending on the situation, different measures could be of more or less importance and should be viewed more closely. If available, local information should always be considered in conjunction with these population estimates.