Alaska Health Equity Index
American Community Survey 5-Year 2020 Estimates
Overview of the Alaska Health Equity Index Mapping Tool
Health Equity Explained
The Health Equity Index is based on the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Social Vulnerability Index. The Social Vulnerability Index originated in emergency preparedness programs to help health officials identify communities that may benefit from additional support. Social vulnerability refers to the socioeconomic and demographic factors that affect the resilience of individuals and communities – the ability to prevent human suffering and financial loss in a disaster. These same methods can be used by public health programs to identify more socially disadvantaged populations and increase outreach and provision of resources to those communities.
Alaska HEI Mapping Tool Explained
This story map examines demographic data for 174 of the 177 Alaska census tracts (Hyder, Prudhoe Bay, and Science Center/Bicentennial Park were excluded due to limited pupulations). This tool allows for a detailed examination of the Health Equity Index, utilizing US Census Bureau 2020 American Community Survey 5-year estimates.
There are 4 domains and a total of 16 variables that are included in the calculations:
Ranking Explained
For each tract a percentile rank is generated for 1) each of the 4 domains, and 2) the combined overall vulnerability. Census tracts are ranked within the state to map relative vulnerability. Percentile rank values range from 0-100, with higher values indicating higher vulnerability.
Example: a tract with a percentile rank of 10 in a given domain is better off than 90% of the other tracts and worse off than 10% of the other tracts in that domain.
Alaska Geographic Regions
Overall Rank
This map shows the overall percentile rank among the census tracts relating to all four of the HEI domains. Percentile rank values range from 0-100, with higher values indicating higher vulnerability.
is the most vulnerable tract overall with a rank of 99.
is the least vulnerable tract overall with a rank of 0.
Click on the following buttons to zoom into that Public Health Region on the map:
Socioeconomic Status Rank
This map shows the percentile rank among the census tracts with regard to socioeconomic status. This domain includes variables representing poverty, unemployment, per capita income, education, and health insurance utilization. Percentile rank values range from 0-100, with higher values indicating higher vulnerability.
is the most vulnerable tract with regard to socioeconomic status with a rank of 99.
) is the least vulnerable tract with regard to socioeconomic status with a rank of 0.
Click on the following buttons to zoom into that Public Health Region on the map:
Household Composition & Disability Rank
This map shows the percentile rank among the census tracts with regard to household composition and disability. This domain includes variables representing senior, youth, and disabled populations, and single-parent households. Percentile rank values range from 0-100, with higher values indicating higher vulnerability.
is the most vulnerable tract with regard to household composition and disability with a rank of 99.
is the least vulnerable tract with regard to household composition and disability with a rank of 0.
Click on the following buttons to zoom into that Public Health Region on the map:
Minority Status & Language Rank
This map shows the percentile rank among the census tracts with regard to minority status and language. This domain includes variables representing minority status and speaking English "less than well". Percentile rank values range from 0-100, with higher values indicating higher vulnerability.
is the most vulnerable tract with regard to minority status and language with a rank of 99. , and are the least vulnerable tracts with regard to minority status and language with ranks of 1.
Click on the following buttons to zoom into that Public Health Region on the map:
Housing & Transportation Rank
This map shows the percentile rank among the census tracts with regard to housing and transportation. This domain includes variables representing multi-unit housing, mobile homes, overcrowding, no vehicle access, and living in group quarters. Percentile rank values range from 0-100, with higher values indicating higher vulnerability.
is the most vulnerable tract with regard to housing and transportation with a rank of 99.
is the least vulnerable tract with regard to housing and transportation with a rank of 0.
Click on the following buttons to zoom into that Public Health Region on the map:
Flagging Explained
To highlight census tracts that are the most vulnerable with regard to each of the 16 variables, tracts in the top 90th percentile are flagged. For a given domain the flag value is the sum of all variables in that domain that were flagged. The overall flag value for each tract is the sum of all flagged variables in all of the domains combined. This is a valuable addition to percentile ranking because it is possible for a census tract to appear relatively invulnerable looking at the overall rank while also having a very high vulnerability with regard to one specific variable and flagging helps identify those areas.
Example: a tract with 5 variables with a percentile rank over 90 would have 5 overall flags out of 16. Of those 5 flags, they could be distributed across the 4 domains in several different ways.
Overall Flags
This map shows the number of individual variables that were flagged among the census tracts with regard to all four of the HEI domains. Tracts are flagged for each variable that is above the 90th percentile.
tract has the most variables flagged, each with 9/16 flags.
82 tracts tie for the least variables flagged, each with 0/16 flags.
Click on the following buttons to zoom into that Public Health Region on the map:
Socioeconomic Status Flags
This map shows the number of individual variables that were flagged among the census tracts with regard to socioeconomic status. This domain includes variables representing poverty, unemployment, per capita income, education, and health insurance utilization. Tracts are flagged for each variable that is above the 90th percentile.
tract has the most variables flagged with 5/5 flags.
133 tracts tie for the least variables flagged, each with 0/5 flags.
Click on the following buttons to zoom into that Public Health Region on the map:
Household Composition & Disability Flags
This map shows the number of individual variables that were flagged among the census tracts with regard to household composition and disability. This domain includes variables representing senior, youth, and disabled populations, and single-parent households. Tracts are flagged for each variable that is above the 90th percentile.
tract has the most variables flagged with 3/4 flags.
120 tracts tie for the least variables flagged, each with 0/4 flags.
Click on the following buttons to zoom into that Public Health Region on the map:
Minority Status & Language Flags
This map shows the number of individual variables that were flagged among the census tracts with regard to minority status and language. This domain includes variables representing minority status and speaking English "less than well". Tracts are flagged for each variable that is above the 90th percentile.
and tract has the most variables flagged, with 2/2 flags.
142 tracts tie for the least variables flagged, each with 0/2 flags.
Click on the following buttons to zoom into that Public Health Region on the map:
Housing & Transportation Flags
This map shows the number of individual variables that were flagged among the census tracts with regard to housing and transportation. This domain includes variables representing multi-unit housing, mobile homes, overcrowding, no vehicle access, and living in group quarters. Tracts are flagged for each variable that is above the 90th percentile.
tract has the most variables flagged, with 3/5 flags.
110 tracts tie for the least variables flagged, each with 0/5 flags.
Click on the following buttons to zoom into that Public Health Region on the map:
