DOI: 10.3886/icpsr38528.v4
title: National Neighborhood Data Archive (NaNDA): Socioeconomic Status and Demographic Characteristics of Census Tracts and ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, United States, 1990-2020
title: Version 4

description: These datasets contain measures of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics by US census tract for the years 1990-2020 and ZIP code tabulation area (ZCTA) for the years 2008-2020. Example measures include population density; population distribution by race, ethnicity, age, and income; income inequality by race and ethnicity; and proportion of population living below the poverty level, receiving public assistance, and female-headed or single parent families with kids. The datasets also contain a set of theoretically derived measures capturing neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and affluence, as well as a neighborhood index of Hispanic, foreign born, and limited English.
description: These datasets were created to measure the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics by US census tract for the years 1990-2020 and ZIP code tabulation area (ZCTA) for the years 2008-2020.
description: <strong>Neighborhood Socioeconomic and Demographic Characteristics of Census Tracts, United States, 1990-2010 Data:</strong>
Construction of the Neighborhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Affluence Variables: To construct a set of variables that would characterize the sociodemographic structure of census tracts over time the research team conducted a principal factor analysis with an orthogonal varimax rotation of 10 census indicators (log transformed to correct positive skew) in 1990. The aim of the research team was to derive a parsimonious set of factors that capture the shared variance of a broad spectrum of neighborhood structural characteristics. Results from the factor analysis indicated 3 separate factors:

The first factor, which the research team interprets as neighborhood disadvantage, is characterized by high levels of poverty, unemployment, female-headed families, households receiving public assistance income, and a high proportion of African Americans in a census tract.
The second factor represents a mix of characteristics associated with neighborhood affluence (concentrations of adults with a college education; with incomes&gt;75K; and employed in managerial and professional occupations). Distinguished from other non-disadvantaged census tracts by their large share of high income, highly-educated, adults in professional occupations, affluent census tracts are likely to attract a set of institutions (e.g., food stores, places to exercise, well-maintained buildings and parks) that foster a set of norms (e.g., an emphasis on exercise and healthy diets) conducive to good health (Clarke, Morenoff, Debbink, et al., 2014). Distinct from simply being the absence of neighborhood disadvantage, neighborhood affluence is associated with higher levels of social control and leverage over local institutions that can foster social environments that facilitate health (Browning & Cagney, 2003).
The third factor represents ethnic and immigrant concentration, (higher values indicate more Hispanic and foreign born in the census tract).
<strong>Socioeconomic Status and Demographic Characteristics of Census Tracts, United States, 2008-2017 Data:</strong>
To construct this dataset, the research team extracted key census indicators related to race, ethnicity, age, income level, employment, poverty, and home ownership from the American Community Survey (ACS) 2012 five-year estimate (covering 2008-2012). The research team merged the variables with the same variables from the ACS 2017 five-year estimate (covering 2013-2017) and with each tract's land area from the 2010 TIGER/Line shapefiles for census tracts. The research team then used those variables to construct three indices as described below: neighborhood disadvantage, neighborhood affluence, and ethnic immigrant concentration.
Construction of the index variables was informed by previous work to construct a set of variables that would characterize the sociodemographic structure of census tracts over time. In 2000, the research team conducted a principal factor analysis with an orthogonal varimax rotation of ten census indicators (log transformed to correct positive skew) (Morenoff et al., 2007). The aim of the research team was to derive a parsimonious set of factors that capture the shared variance of a broad spectrum of neighborhood structural characteristics. Results from the factor analysis indicated three separate factors:

The first factor, which the research team interprets as neighborhood disadvantage, is characterized by high levels of poverty, unemployment, female-headed families, households receiving public assistance income, and a high proportion of African Americans in a census tract.
The second factor represents a mix of characteristics associated with neighborhood affluence (concentrations of adults with a college education; with incomes&gt;75K; and employed in managerial and professional occupations). Distinguished from other non-disadvantaged census tracts by their large share of high income, highly-educated, adults in professional occupations, affluent census tracts are likely to attract a set of institutions (e.g., food stores, places to exercise, well-maintained buildings and parks) that foster a set of norms (e.g., an emphasis on exercise and healthy diets) conducive to good health (Clarke et al., 2014). Distinct from simply being the absence of neighborhood disadvantage, neighborhood affluence is associated with higher levels of social control and leverage over local institutions that can foster social environments that facilitate health (Browning & Cagney, 2003).
The third factor represents ethnic and immigrant concentration. Higher values indicate more Hispanic and foreign born in the census tract.
<strong>Socioeconomic Status and Demographic Characteristics of ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, United States, 2008-2017 Data:</strong>
To construct this dataset, the research team extracted key census indicators related to race, ethnicity, age, income level, employment, poverty, and home ownership from the ACS 2012 five-year estimate (covering 2008-2012). The research team merged the variables with the same variables from the ACS 2017 five-year estimate (covering 2013-2017) and with each ZIP code tabulation area (ZCTA)'s land area from the 2010 TIGER/Line shapefiles for ZIP code tabulation areas. The research team then used those variables to construct three indices as described below: neighborhood disadvantage, neighborhood affluence, and ethnic immigrant concentration.
Construction of the index variables was informed by previous work to construct a set of variables that would characterize the sociodemographic structure of census tracts over time. In 2000, the research team conducted a principal factor analysis with an orthogonal varimax rotation of ten census indicators (log transformed to correct positive skew) (Morenoff et al., 2007). The aim of the research team was to derive a parsimonious set of factors that capture the shared variance of a broad spectrum of neighborhood structural characteristics. Results from the factor analysis indicated three separate factors:

The first factor, which the research team interprets as neighborhood disadvantage, is characterized by high levels of poverty, unemployment, female-headed families, households receiving public assistance income, and a high proportion of African Americans in a census tract.
The second factor represents a mix of characteristics associated with neighborhood affluence (concentrations of adults with a college education; with incomes&gt;75K; and employed in managerial and professional occupations). Distinguished from other non-disadvantaged census tracts by their large share of high income, highly-educated, adults in professional occupations, affluent census tracts are likely to attract a set of institutions (e.g., food stores, places to exercise, well-maintained buildings and parks) that foster a set of norms (e.g., an emphasis on exercise and healthy diets) conducive to good health (Clarke et al., 2014). Distinct from simply being the absence of neighborhood disadvantage, neighborhood affluence is associated with higher levels of social control and leverage over local institutions that can foster social environments that facilitate health (Browning & Cagney, 2003).
The third factor represents ethnic and immigrant concentration. Higher values indicate more Hispanic and foreign born in the census tract.
<strong>Socioeconomic Status and Demographic Characteristics of Census Tract and ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, United States, 2016-2020 Data:</strong>
To construct this dataset, the research team extracted key census indicators related to race, ethnicity, age, income, employment, poverty, and home ownership from the ACS 2020 five-year estimate (covering 2016-2020). The team merged variables with each tract's or ZCTA's land area from the 2020 TIGER/Line shapefiles for census tracts and ZCTAs. The team then conducted a principal components analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis with census tract indicators from the 2016-2020 ACS 5-year estimates to empirically re-evaluate the neighborhood socioeconomic and demographic indices from previous versions of the data. The aim was to provide a parsimonious set of theoretically-derived factors that capture the shared variance across a broad spectrum of structural socioeconomic characteristics. Results from the factor analysis indicated three separate factors:

The first factor, which the team interprets as neighborhood disadvantage, is
characterized by high levels of poverty, low family income, and households receiving public assistance income in the neighborhood.
The second factor, which the team interprets as neighborhood affluence, is characterized by high levels of people with a college education, families with high income, and people employed in professional/managerial occupations in the neighborhood.
The third factor represents a higher proportion of Hispanic, foreign born, and
people with limited English proficiency in the neighborhood.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Neighborhood Socioeconomic and Demographic Characteristics of Census Tracts, United States, 1990-2010 Data
DS2: Socioeconomic Status and Demographic Characteristics of Census Tracts, United States, 2008-2017 Data
DS3: Socioeconomic Status and Demographic Characteristics of ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, United States, 2008-2017 Data
DS4: Socioeconomic Status and Demographic Characteristics of Census Tracts, United States, 2016-2020 Data
DS5: Socioeconomic Status and Demographic Characteristics of ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, United States, 2016-2020 Data
description: Census tracts and ZIP code tabulation areas in the United States, including Puerto Rico. Smallest Geographic Unit: County Federal Information Processing System (FIPS)
description: The data and documentation for the Neighborhood Socioeconomic and Demographic Characteristics of Census Tracts, United States, 2000-2010 Data were originally deposited in openICPSR 111107. Version 4 of this study includes data from 1990-2000 not included in the original deposit.
The data and documentation for the Socioeconomic Status and Demographic Characteristics of Census Tracts, United States, 2008-2017 Data were originally deposited in openICPSR 119451.
The data and documentation for the Socioeconomic Status and Demographic Characteristics of ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, United States, 2008-2017 Data were originally deposited in openICPSR 120462.A ZIP code to ZCTA crosswalk must be used to combine the ZCTA dataset with ZIP code geocoded data. Such a crosswalk is available on the UDS Mapper website at https://udsmapper.org/zip-code-to-zcta-crosswalk/. Sample code for merging the UDS Mapper crosswalk with NaNDA datasets is available at http://doi.org/10.3886/E124461.
Users wanting to combine the 1990-2010, 2008-2017, and 2016-2020 data should be aware of key differences between how measures are calculated across the datasets. For more information, see the "Usage Note" section of each dataset's corresponding documentation file.For additional information see the National Neighborhood Data Archive (NaNDA).