Community Social Vulnerability Indicators Supporting Information

Overview

This page contains supporting information for the NOAA Fisheries Community Social Vulnerability Indicators Tool.

Community Social Vulnerability Indicators Information

Methodology

For a general description of the methodology, see the following NOAA Technical Memorandum.

Jepson, M. and L.L. Colburn. 2013. Development of Social Indicators of Fishing Community Vulnerability and Resilience in the U.S. Southeast and Northeast Regions. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-F/SPO-129, 64 p.

Note: The variables used to calculate two indices have been modified. The crime index variable was removed from the personal disruption index and pounds landed per capita has replaced percent in agriculture, forestry and fishing variable in the commercial fishing reliance index.

Indicator Definitions

The following definitions apply to data in the Community Social Vulnerability Indicators Tool.

Fishing Indicators

The fishing engagement and reliance indices measure the importance or level of dependence on commercial or recreational fishing for coastal communities. They are used in the National Environmental Policy Act, Magnuson-Stevens Act, and climate change related assessments.

The Fishing Indicator component consists of: 

• Commercial fishing engagement measures the presence of commercial fishing through fishing activity as shown through permits, fish dealers, and vessel landings. A high rank indicates more engagement.
• Commercial fishing reliance measures the presence of commercial fishing in relation to the population size of a community through fishing activity. A high rank indicates more reliance.
• Recreational fishing engagement measures the presence of recreational fishing through fishing activity estimates. A high rank indicates more engagement.
• Recreational fishing reliance measures the presence of recreational fishing in relation to the population size of a community. A high rank indicates increased reliance.

Note: Recreational fishing indicators are calculated based on regionally available data, so are not comparable on a national basis.

Economic Indicators

Economic indicators characterize the strength and stability of the workforce and housing. These factors affect the cost of living which can become unsustainable for disadvantaged populations.

The Economic Indicator Component consists of two indices: 

• Labor force structure characterizes the availability of employment including females employed, population in the labor force, self-employment, and social security recipients. A high rank indicates fewer employment opportunities and a more vulnerable population.
• Housing characteristics is a measure of infrastructure vulnerability to coastal hazards including median rent and mortgage, number of rooms, and presence of mobile homes. A high rank means a more vulnerable infrastructure and a more vulnerable population. Alternatively, the opposite interpretation might be that more affordable housing could mean less vulnerability for some populations.

Land Use Change Indicators

Land use change indicators measure factors that, over time, may indicate a threat to the viability of a commercial or recreational working waterfront, including infrastructure.

The Land Use Change Indicator Component consists of 3 indices:

• Housing Disruption represents factors that indicate a fluctuating housing market where some displacement may occur due to rising home values and rents including change in mortgage value. A high rank means more vulnerability for those in need of affordable housing.
• Retiree migration characterizes communities with a higher concentration of retirees and elderly people in the population including households with inhabitants over 65 years, population receiving social security or retirement income, and level of participation in the workforce. A high rank indicates an area with the potential to experience changes in land use and community composition population  as retirees seek out the amenities of coastal living.
• Urban sprawl describes areas with increasing population density, proximity to urban centers, home values and cost of living. A high rank indicates a population more vulnerable to changing land use that may affect its ability to support a working waterfront.

Sea Level Risk Indicators

Sea level rise will affect the relationship between fishing communities and the marine- and land-based resources on which they depend. There are two indicators characterizing sea level risk to communities.

• Sea level rise risk signifies the overall risk of inundation from projected sea level rise between 1-6 feet over approximately the next 90 years. The indicator represents the possibility of inundation based upon the combined projections at each stage of sea level rise and could vary depending upon future circumstances. A high rank indicates a community more vulnerable to sea level rise.
• Storm surge risk refers to the overall risk of flooding from hurricane storm surge categories 1-5. The indicator represents the ‘worst-case’ possibility of inundation based on the combined hurricane storm surge categories and could vary depending on future circumstances. A high rank indicates a community more vulnerable to a particular hurricane storm surge.

Community Social Vulnerability Indicators Categorical Rankings

The indicators are factor scores that are normalized such that 0 is the mean. We chose to categorize them by standard deviation to offer a more intuitive view of their ranking.

Index Distance from the Mean

The Index Distance from the Mean is the factor score for each index or index set. A factor score is standardized with a mean of 0 and represents the approximate deviations above or below the mean. As an example, a score of 1.0 reflects a community that is approximately more vulnerable on this index or index set than approximately 84% of all communities. A score of -1.0 reflects a community is less vulnerable than 84% of all communities.

Citation for the Community Social Vulnerability Indicators Tool

NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology. 2020. NOAA Fisheries Community Social Vulnerability Indicators (CSVIs). Version 5 (Last updated: June 24, 2024). 

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/tool-app/community-social-vulnerability-indicators-tool

Metadata and Update Information

• Metadata: CSVI InPort Metadata
• Update Schedule: Annual

Data Specifications

Area of Coverage: Communities in coastal counties in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii

Format: Excel and CSV

Units: Data were primarily collected at the Census Designated Place (CDP) level. In the Northeast, some community data were collected at the Minor Civil Division (MCD) level. In Hawaii, data were collected at the Census County Division (CCD) level. In other regions, some individual community data were collected at similarly distinct geographic scales where appropriate.

Data Sources: NOAA Fisheries, U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon State Marine Board, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and Hawai’i Division of Aquatic Resources.

Data Series

The social indicators were developed with multiple sources of data. The social, economic, and demographic indices were primarily calculated with U.S. Census American Community Survey 5-year rolling average estimate data from 2005-2009 to 2016-2020. The commercial fisheries indicators were developed using NOAA Fisheries and/or state landings data from 2009 to 2020. The recreational fisheries indicators were developed from 2009 to 2020 with NOAA Fisheries and/or state data unique to each region. The social, economic, and demographic indices data series were paired with commercial and recreational fisheries indicators from the final year in each data series. For example, the 2005 to 2009 social indicator data series are paired with 2009 fisheries indicators. The sea level rise risk indicator was initially developed in 2015 and updated in 2020 for all coastal states except Alaska due to the unavailability of data. The updated sea level rise risk indicator was paired with 2016-2020 social indicator data series and 2020 fisheries data. The storm surge risk indicator was developed in 2015 for Gulf Coast and Eastern U.S. communities due to hurricane risk. Storm surge risk indicator was introduced in 2015 and paired with 2011 to 2015 social indicator data series and 2015 fisheries data. Both sea level rise risk and storm surge risk indicators will be repeated annually until updated.

Indicator Definitions

Overall Community Risk Score

The Overall Community Risk Score consists of four sets of weighted social indicators: 1) Fishing (50 percent), 2) Demographics (18.75 percent), 3) Economic Issues (12.5 percent), and 4) Land Use Change (18.75 percent). These weighted social indicators are developed using social index measures that have been previously created for the Community Social Vulnerability Indicators tool (see above) 

The overall community risk score is produced by taking the average of index categorical scores within each component. For example, the fishing component includes the four fishing indicator rankings (commercial fishing reliance, commercial fishing engagement, recreational fishing reliance, and recreational fishing engagement) and the average of these for each community is multiplied by 50 percent. To calculate the overall risk score, the average for the remaining social indices is also taken and weighted by 18.75 percent for Demographics (poverty, population composition, personal disruption), 12.5 percent for Economic (labor force structure, housing characteristics), and 18.75percent for Land Use Change (housing disruption, retiree migration, and urban sprawl).

The Overall Community Risk Score ranges from 1-4, with 1) Low Vulnerability, 2) Medium Vulnerability, 3) Medium High Vulnerability, and 4) High Vulnerability.

Data Caveats

This section contains data caveats for the Community Social Vulnerability Indicators Tool.

Recreational Engagement and Reliance Indices

Recreational indices are available for the Northeast, Southeast, West Coast, Alaska, and Pacific Island regions. NOAA's Marine Recreational Information Program data was used for the creation of the recreational engagement and reliance indices for most Northeast and Southeast states. Texas—and more recently Louisiana—do not participate in the MRIP data collection effort. Recreational indices for those states were developed using NOAA recreational permits data and boat ramp data. The West Coast indices were created using data from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon State Marine Board, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, and Data Axel. The Alaska indices were developed using data from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on individual sportfishing licenses held by residents, sportfishing licenses sold to Alaska residents, sportfishing licenses sold in the community, sportfishing guide businesses located within the community, and the number of sportfishing guides in the community. The Pacific Island indices were developed using both data from Hawai’i Division of Aquatic Resources Fisher Reporting System and MRIP data that was collected for Hawai’i only.

The Indices for all states were developed using the same methodology (although variables for the states noted above differed) and are categorized on the same four-item scale. Given the difference in data, it should be noted that the rankings for Texas, Louisiana, Alaska, and Hawaii are relative to each state. The West Coast states (California, Oregon, and Washington) are relative to that region and are not part of a larger overview of recreational fishing engagement and reliance.

Sea Level Rise Risk Index

Land area at elevations from one to six feet above mean higher high water within community boundaries were calculated using coastal elevation data developed by the NOAA High-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs; 5 to 10-meter horizontal resolution) from the National Elevation Dataset for coastal areas of the U.S., adjusting them for variations in local tide levels. We chose a 'bathtub' approach that estimates the inland spread of water as sea level rises by comparing elevation values of the eight neighboring cells to the value of a particular cell in a DEM raster. The area of potential sea level rise impacts in communities was computed by overlapping the remaining land areas of municipality shape files with NOAA sea level rise shapefiles from one to six feet elevation except for Alaska due to lack of available data.

Note: See the Office of Coastal Management's Digital Coast for more information.

Storm Surge Risk Index

Storm surge inundation data was collected from the Sea Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes (SLOSH) display program for all coastal areas from Maine to Texas. Storm surge values were interpolated using ArcGIS to create a raster area representing the water surface elevation for each hurricane category. The area of potential storm surge impacts in communities was computed by subtracting the land elevation (DEMs) data from the National Elevation Dataset from the hurricane storm surge interpolated rasters for hurricane categories 1 to 4 in the Northeast region and 1 to 5 in the Southeast region.