Development and Public Release of Five Continuous Summary Metrics for all Census Block-Groups in the United States, 2013-2022

Publicly available data on characteristics of geographical areas in the United States is vast yet challenging to use effectively. This study aimed to generate a set of summary scores at the block-group level across the United States and validate them using existing area-based measures, demographics, noise estimates, and maps of well-known metropolitan areas. Data included American Community Survey and Environmental Justice Screen data for 288,918 census block-groups collected yearly from 2013 to 2022. Exploratory structural equation modeling with bifactor rotation was used to extract five orthogonal factors. The scores were validated using the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), Child Opportunity Index (COI), data from the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort, ambient noise data from the U.S. National Parks Service, and color-coded maps of metropolitan areas. The five scores captured urbanicity, socioeconomic prosperity, university influence, retirement appeal, and pollution levels. Validation showed expected relationships between urbanicity and ambient noise; socioeconomic status and ADI, COI, and mother's education; and score levels corresponding to known characteristics of metropolitan areas. These scores provide a significant advancement in the accessibility and usability of large-scale socioenvironmental data. The public availability brings numerous opportunities for further research and application, potentially uncovering new insights and informing evidence-based decision-making across various domains.