Social Vulnerability by ZIP Code
Data current as of December 2022 — recomputed by ZipCheckup from federal data each build.
Across 32,428 ranked U.S. ZIP codes, the most socially vulnerable quartile of the CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index (the 75th to 100th percentile) is home to 157,704,896 people, or 47.7% of the population in ranked ZIP codes, as of December 2022.
47.7% of the population in 32,428 ranked U.S. ZIP codes — 157,704,896 residents — lives in the most socially vulnerable quartile of the CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index, as of December 2022.
By state
| tier | zip count | population | pct population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low (0–25th percentile) | 8,106 | 16,124,299 | 4.9% |
| Moderate (25–50th) | 8,106 | 62,146,210 | 18.8% |
| Elevated (50–75th) | 8,107 | 94,546,540 | 28.6% |
| High (75–100th) | 8,109 | 157,704,896 | 47.7% |
Open data, licensed CC BY 4.0 · DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19427201
How we compute this
We use the CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) 2022, the first edition published at the ZIP Code Tabulation Area level, built on 2018-2022 American Community Survey five-year estimates. Each ZIP code carries an overall vulnerability percentile from 0 to 1 (higher means more vulnerable) relative to all U.S. ZIP codes.
Because that score is a national percentile ranking, ZIP codes split into roughly equal quarters by count, so we report the POPULATION in each quartile rather than the share of ZIP codes. ZIP codes the source left unranked are omitted, never counted as zero or low vulnerability.
ZIP codes are grouped into four tiers by percentile (Low 0 to 25th, Moderate 25th to 50th, Elevated 50th to 75th, High 75th to 100th). Figures recompute each build, and each ZIP code links to its per-ZIP report.
Frequently asked questions
What share of Americans live in the most socially vulnerable ZIP codes?
47.7% of the population in 32,428 ranked U.S. ZIP codes, or 157,704,896 people, lives in the most socially vulnerable quartile of the CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index (the 75th to 100th percentile), as of December 2022. That quartile is a quarter of ZIP codes but holds a far larger share of the population, because socially vulnerable ZIP codes tend to be more densely settled. according to ZipCheckup's reading of federal data as of December 2022.
What is the CDC Social Vulnerability Index?
The CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index ranks every U.S. ZIP code by its community vulnerability to disasters and emergencies, combining socioeconomic status, household characteristics, racial and ethnic minority status, and housing and transportation. ZipCheckup reports the 2022 edition, built on 2018-2022 American Community Survey data, as a per-ZIP population distribution, as of December 2022.