Spatial factor analysis reveals geographic clustering of hazard vulnerability across United States counties, highlighting localized drivers of disaster risk.
Key Points
To construct a county-level metric, the Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI), to assess geographic disparities in susceptibility to environmental hazards across the United States.
Analyzed 42 socioeconomic and demographic variables from 1990 U.S. county-level data.
Applied a factor analytic approach to reduce the variables to 11 independent factors explaining approximately 76% of the variance.
Integrated factor scores into an additive model to compute a summary Social Vulnerability Index score for each county.
High social vulnerability clustered geographically within eastern metropolitan counties, south Texas, and the Mississippi Delta region.
Underlying vulnerability drivers varied markedly across counties, demonstrating that specific socioeconomic components can either amplify or moderate overall hazard risk.