Social Vulnerability
Social vulnerability is the susceptibility of social groups to the adverse impacts of natural hazards, including disproportionate death, injury, loss, or disruption of livelihood.
As a consequence enhancing risk component of the National Risk Index, a Social Vulnerability score and rating represent the relative level of a community’s social vulnerability compared to all other communities at the same level. A community’s Social Vulnerability score measures its national rank or percentile. A higher Social Vulnerability score results in a higher Risk Index score.
Social Vulnerability scores and ratings are available for communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Social Vulnerability scores and ratings are not available for American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.Social Vulnerability scores and ratings were generated for Puerto Rico to reflect where a given community in Puerto Rico would rank relative to communities in the 50 states and District of Columbia.
Source Data
For more information on the SVI, please refer to CDC/ATSDR’s SVI resources or the SVI documentation.
For comprehensive details about Social Vulnerability in the Risk Index, see the National Risk Index Technical Documentation.