Map Details: Using the NSES to Identify High Deprivation in Maryland

Impact Statement

Living in high deprivation areas can decrease the quality and quantity of available community-based public health interventions, the availability of health care services and resources, and access to healthy food and physical activity (Shaw et al., Prev Chronic Dis 2016).

The choropleth map indicates the degree of socioeconomic deprivation in each census tract in Maryland, with the darker areas representing high deprivation and the lighter areas representing lower deprivation.

Key Points

Major Findings

Western Maryland, the Eastern Shore, and Baltimore City have the highest levels of neighborhood deprivation.

How the map will be used, or has been used

This map provides important insight into the location of vulnerable populations.

ArcGIS 10.5

American Community Survey, 2012

Neighborhood deprivation in Maryland was assessed using the Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status Index (NSES) (Dubowitz et al., 2011), a validated composite of the following indicators: (a) percentage of adults 25 and older with less than a high school education, (b) percentage of unemployed males, (c) percentage of households with income below poverty level in the past year, (d) percentage of households receiving public assistance, (e) percentage of households with children that are headed by an unmarried female, and (f) median household income in the past year. Neighborhood deprivation was mapped at the census tract level based by quantile, with the darkest areas representing the highest neighborhood deprivation across the six measures.

Kristi Pier, Director, Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, Maryland Department of Health
410-767-6722
kristi.pier@maryland.gov

Kristi Pier, Maryland Department of Health; accessed from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Chronic Disease GIS Exchange https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/maps/gisx/mapgallery/MD-neighborhood.html