Table 2 Social Vulnerability Index’s variables characterizing census tracts

From: Socially vulnerable communities face disproportionate exposure and susceptibility to U.S. wildfire and prescribed burn smoke

Social Vulnerability

Index theme

Social vulnerability

variable

Units

Theme 1: Socioeconomic Status

Below poverty line

Percentage of people

Unemployed

Percentage of people

Per capita income

Dollars

No high school diploma

Percentage of people

Theme 2: Household Composition & Disability

Aged 65 or older

Percentage of people

Aged 17 or younger

Percentage of people

Civilian with a disability

Percentage of people

Single-parent household

Percentage of households

Theme 3: Minority Status & Language

Minority (not non-Hispanic or Latino White)

Percentage of people

Speaks English “less than well”

Percentage of people

Theme 4: Housing Type & Transportation

In multi-unit structures (ten or more units)

Percentage of households

Mobile homes

Percentage of households

Crowding (more people than rooms)

Percentage of households

No vehicle access

Percentage of households

Group quarters

Percentage of people

  1. Notes: Information is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention38 and Flanagan et al.39. Each variable contributes equal weight to both its theme’s Social Vulnerability Index and the overall Social Vulnerability Index. See Supplementary Methods 3 for more details on the Social Vulnerability Index and its use in this study.