USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.

Data Sources for Rural Development Priorities

This document supplements information found on the USDA Rural Development priorities web page, 

available at this link: https://www.rd.usda.gov/priority-points. While not intended to replace formal program 

application materials, our goal is to help Rural Development customers better understand the RD application 

process. Additional questions can be addressed by state-based program staff (a list of state offices is 

available at this link: https://www.rd.usda.gov/about-rd/state-offices). If you have questions about the data 

used in determining Rural Development priority points, please email USDA.RD.DATA@usda.gov

Creating More and Better Markets

Uses the Distressed Communities Index (DCI): 

• The DCI is taken from the Economic Innovation Group, but the Innovation Center has adapted to 

ensure that rural communities are not excluded which is the case with EIG’s measure.

• The DCI is comprised of seven publicly-available metrics that evaluate a number of socioeconomic 

measures of a community’s economic well-being: 

No high school diploma: Percentage of the 25-years-and-older population without a high school 

diploma or equivalent 

Housing vacancy rate: Percentage of habitable, unoccupied housing, excluding seasonal, 

recreational, or occasional-use housing 

Adults not working: Percentage of the ages 25 – 54 population (considered “prime age”) not 

currently employed 

Poverty rate: Percentage of the population living below the poverty line 

Median income ratio: Depicts the median household income as a percent of the metro area median 

household income (or statewide, in nonmetropolitan areas) 

Change in employment: Percentage of change in the number of jobs in a specific range of years 

(for instance, from 2016 – 2020) 

Change in establishments: Percentage of change in the number of businesses in a specific range 

of years (for instance, from 2016 – 2020) 

• Zip codes are ranked on each of these measures. Then, an overall score averaging the individual 

rankings is calculated. The specific cut-off for a community to be considered distressed is usually a 

DCI score of 80 (out of 100). 

• You can learn more about DCI methodology at this link: https://eig.org/distressed-communities/2022-

dci-methodology/

Geography level: Zipcode

Note: U.S. Territories can obtain points by using local data regarding economic conditions of the proposed 

project area.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.

Advancing Racial Justice, Place-Based Equity, and Opportunity

Uses the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI): 

https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/fact_sheet/fact_sheet.html

The SVI helps identify communities vulnerable to inequity. The degree to which a community exhibits certain 

social conditions – such as high poverty, low percentage of vehicle access, or crowded households – may 

affect that community’s ability to prevent human suffering and financial loss in the event of disaster. These 

factors describe a community’s social vulnerability.

Together, these factors describe a community’s social vulnerability. The SVI ranks each census tract on 16 

social factors and groups them into four related themes. These themes include:

• Socioeconomic Status: Population below 150% poverty, housing cost burden, population with no 

high school diploma and population with no health insurance

• Household Characteristics: Population ages 65 or older, ages 17 or younger, residents with a 

disability, single-parent households, and English language proficiency

• Racial and Ethnic Minority Status: Hispanic or Latino (of any race); Black and African American, Not 

Hispanic or Latino; American Indian and Alaska Native, Not Hispanic or Latino; Asian, Not Hispanic 

or Latino; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, Not Hispanic or Latino; Two or More Races, 

Not Hispanic or Latino; Other Races, Not Hispanic or Latino

• Housing Type and Transportation: Multiunit structures, mobile homes, overcrowded housing, no

access to a vehicle, and institutional group quarters

Census tract rankings are based on percentiles. Percentile ranking values range from 0 to 1, with higher 

values indicating greater vulnerability. Census tracts with a score of .75 or higher are considered vulnerable. 

The higher the score, the more vulnerable the community. Using the SVI as the sole measure for this priority 

is appropriate, as it gives priority to communities vulnerable to inequity anywhere within RD’s areas of 

eligibility.

Geography level: Census Tract

Note: U.S. Territories can obtain points by using local data to demonstrate the social vulnerability of the 

proposed project area.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.

Addressing Climate Change and Environmental Justice

Two metrics: Disadvantaged Community status or Energy Community status 

Uses the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) to identify Disadvantaged Communities: 

• CEJST: https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/en/#3/33.47/-97.5

• CEJST is a tool to help federal agencies identify disadvantaged communities that will benefit from 

programs included in the Justice40 initiative. CEJST’s eight (8) categories of burden: Climate, Energy, 

Health, Housing, Legacy Pollution, Transportation, Water and Wastewater, or Workforce Development.

• A census tract is considered disadvantaged if it: 

• Meets the thresholds for at least one of the categories of burden or

• Is located on land within the boundaries of federally recognized Tribes or 

• Is surrounded by disadvantaged communities and is at or above the 50th percentile for low 

income

Geography levels: Census Tract 

Uses definition from Inflation Reduction Act to identify Energy Communities, which are: 

• A “brownfield site” (as defined in certain subparagraphs of the Comprehensive Environmental 

Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA))

• A “metropolitan statistical area” or “non-metropolitan statistical area” that has (or had at any time after 

2009) 0.17% or greater direct employment or 25% or greater local tax revenues related to the 

extraction, processing, transport, or storage of coal, oil, or natural gas; and has an unemployment rate 

at or above the national average unemployment rate for the previous year

• A census tract (or directly adjoining census tract) in which a coal mine has closed after 1999; or in 

which a coal-fired electric generating unit has been retired after 2009

• You can learn more about IRA Energy Communities at this link - 

https://energycommunities.gov/energy-community-tax-credit-bonus/

Note: U.S. Territories can obtain points for the quantitative factor by using local data to demonstrate that the 

proposed project area has a high concentration of fossil fuel-employment.

For additional information, please refer to Rural Development Priorities resources available online at this link: 

https://www.rd.usda.gov/priority-points or contact the Rural Development Innovation Center Data Analytics 

team at USDA.RD.DATA@usda.Ugov.

Last Updated July 2023