tbcmp-vulnerability

Products and code for the Tampa Bay Coastal Master Plan flood vulnerability maps. Flood-vulnerable communities are identified as those facing significant burdens--including demographic, economic, household, and environmental--that may make them especially vulnerable to the negative impacts of flooding. The following 12 burdens are considered in identifying vulnerable census tracts within the Tampa Bay region:

• Demographic dimension
  • Disabled population (primary indicator)
  • Vulnerable age groups
  • Linguistically isolated
• Economic dimension
  • Low income households (primary indicator)
  • Housing cost stress
  • Lack of health insurance
• Household dimension
  • Mobile homes (primary indicator)
  • Plumbing deficiencies
  • Over-crowded households
• Environmental dimension
  • Proximity to Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) sites (primary indicator)
  • Proximity to Superfund sites
  • Proximity to hazardous waste facilities

Calculating Flood Vulnerability

The burdens listed above are used to calculate a composite score reflecting the magnitude of vulnerability to the impacts of flooding for a given census tract. This is called the Flood Vulnerability Index (FVI). It considers each of the four dimensions of vulnerability. Each dimension is represented by a primary indicator and two secondary indicators. If a census tract falls within the 80th percentile (or higher) on a primary indicator, it receives a score of 1 for that indicator; if a tracts meets this threshold on a secondary indicator, it receives a score of 0.5 for that indicator. The maximum potential score for a single dimension is 2, with a potential maximum FVI of 8 across all dimensions.

Penalty factor: All dimensions of vulnerability are not considered equally. Communities that are not facing any demographic, economic, or household burdens are given a FVI of 0, regardless of the environmental burdens to which they may be exposed. Thus, burdens captured in the environmental dimension only contribute to the final FVI score when at least one demographic, economic, or household burden is also present. This penalty applied to the environmental dimension was preferred by members of the Community and Technical Workgroups to more accurately reflect social vulnerability across Tampa Bay and produce fairer FVI comparisons between communities facing different types of burdens.

Scripts Available

This repository includes two scripts allowing for all products to be replicated by users in the R environment:

• data_download.R: Run this code to download all data from their respective online sources, clean the data, and generate the raw data that will be used to create the community maps.
• data_management.R: Run this code to use the raw data created in the previous script to generate and visualize the final community map, including threshold calculations and polygon attributes.

Data Available

The 'data' folder includes intermediary and final data products. These products can be created by running the associated code, or directly loaded/downloaded for easier application:

• metrics_florida.csv: Data table containing the raw sociodemographic data for all census tracts in Florida.
• tracts_tampabay.RData: Spatial data (sf object) containing the raw polygon boundaries of all census tracts in the counties represented in the Tampa Bay Coastal Master Plan (i.e., Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, and Sarasota), available from the U.S. Census Bureau [1].
• vulnerability_map.RData: Spatial data (sf object) containing the flood vulnerability characteristics for each census tract in the Tampa Bay region. Best for workspaces using R software.
• vulnerability_map.kml: Spatial data (KML) containing the final flood vulnerability characteristics for each census tract in the Tampa Bay region. Best for workspaces using Google software (e.g., Google Earth, Google Maps).
• vulnerability_map.shp (.dbf, .prj, .shx): Spatial data (ESRI Shapefile) containing the final flood vulnerability characteristics for each census tract in the Tampa Bay region. Best for workspaces using GIS software (e.g., ArcGIS, QGIS).
• vulnerability_map.html: Spatial data (HTML) containing the final flood vulnerability characteristics for each census tract in the Tampa Bay region. Best for hosting in online workspaces using HTML coding (e.g., GitHub Pages, websites).

Data Fields

Below is a description of the fields contained in the attribute table of the final community vulnerability maps:

• Tract characteristics
  • tract: The unique ID of the given census tract as classified by the U.S. Census Bureau.
  • population: The total population, as estimated in the 2024 ACS [2].
  • area_mi2: The area (in square miles) of the census tract, based on the NAD83 / Florida West (ftUS) projected coordinate system. Note this differs from the WGS84 coordinate system used to map the data.
  • density: Population density (people per sq. mile) based on population and area_mi2.
• Vulnerability characteristics
  • disabled: Percent of the population with a disability, as estimated in the 2024 ACS [3].
  • age: Percent of the population under 5 years old or 65 years and older, as estimated in the 2024 ACS [4].
  • language: Percent of households considered limited English-speaking, as estimated in the 2024 ACS [5].
  • income: Percent of the population whose income is below 200% of the federal poverty level, as estimated in the 2024 ACS [6].
  • costs: Percent of households (owned or rented) where housing costs are more than 30% of household income, as estimated in the 2024 ACS [7].
  • uninsured: Percent of the population with no health insurance coverage, as estimated in the 2024 ACS [8].
  • mobile: Percent of households that are mobile homes (and other miscellaneous types of units), as estimated in the 2024 ACS [9].
  • plumbing: Percent of housing units lacking complete plumbing facilities, as estimated in the 2024 ACS [10].
  • overcrowded: Percent of households with more than one occupant per room, as estimated in the 2024 ACS [11].
  • tri: Number of sites from the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) within 3 miles (or nearest beyond 3 miles) divided by distance, based on site points mapped by the EPA [12].
  • superfunds: Number of proposed or listed Superfund sites within 3 miles (or nearest beyond 3 miles) divided by distance, based on facility boundaries mapped by the EPA [13].
  • hazwaste: Number of hazardous waste facilities within 3 miles (or nearest beyond 3 miles) divided by distance, based on site points mapped by the EPA [14].
• Vulnerability percentiles
  • disabled_pct: The tract's percentile rank for disabled among all Florida census tracts.
  • age_pct: The tract's percentile rank for age among all Florida census tracts.
  • language_pct: The tract's percentile rank for language among all Florida census tracts.
  • income_pct: The tract's percentile rank for income among all Florida census tracts.
  • costs_pct: The tract's percentile rank for costs among all Florida census tracts.
  • uninsured_pct: The tract's percentile rank for uninsured among all Florida census tracts.
  • mobile_pct: The tract's percentile rank for mobile among all Florida census tracts.
  • plumbing_pct: The tract's percentile rank for plumbing among all Florida census tracts.
  • overcrowded_pct: The tract's percentile rank for overcrowded among all Florida census tracts.
  • tri_pct: The tract's percentile rank for tri among all Florida census tracts.
  • superfunds_pct: The tract's percentile rank for superfunds among all Florida census tracts.
  • hazwaste_pct: The tract's percentile rank for hazwaste among all Florida census tracts.
• Burden classifications
  • burden_disabled: Logical, indicates if disabled_pct is in the 80th percentile or higher.
  • burden_age: Logical, indicates if age_pct is in the 80th percentile or higher.
  • burden_language: Logical, indicates if language_pct is in the 80th percentile or higher.
  • burden_income: Logical, indicates if income_pct is in the 80th percentile or higher.
  • burden_costs: Logical, indicates if costs_pct is in the 80th percentile or higher.
  • burden_uninsured: Logical, indicates if uninsured_pct is in the 80th percentile or higher.
  • burden_mobile: Logical, indicates if mobile_pct is in the 80th percentile or higher.
  • burden_plumbing: Logical, indicates if plumbing_pct is in the 80th percentile or higher.
  • burden_overcrowded: Logical, indicates if overcrowded_pct is in the 80th percentile or higher.
  • burden_tri: Logical, indicates if tri_pct is in the 80th percentile or higher.
  • burden_superfunds: Logical, indicates if superfunds_pct is in the 80th percentile or higher.
  • burden_hazwaste: Logical, indicates if hazwaste_pct is in the 80th percentile or higher.
• Burden summaries
  • total_burdens: Total count of burden classifications across the 12 vulnerability characteristics.
  • burdens: Verbose list of all the burdens identified in a given tract.
  • burdens_demographic: Verbose list of all the demographic burdens identified in a given tract.
  • burdens_economic: Verbose list of all the economic burdens identified in a given tract.
  • burdens_household: Verbose list of all the household burdens identified in a given tract.
  • burdens_environment: Verbose list of all the environmental burdens identified in a given tract.
• Flood Vulnerability Index
  • vulnerability: Composite score representing the Flood Vulnerability Index, from 0 (min) to 8 (max).

Data Sources

• [1] U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). 2024 Cartographic Boundary Files (Shapefiles). Scale 1:500,000 (national). Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://www.census.gov/geographies/mapping-files/time-series/geo/cartographic-boundary.html.
• [2] U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). Total Population. American Community Survey 2024, ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Table B01003. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://data.census.gov/table.
• [3] U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). Sex by Age by Disability Status. American Community Survey 2024, ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Table B18101. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://data.census.gov/table.
• [4] U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). Sex by Age. American Community Survey 2024, ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Table B01001. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://data.census.gov/table.
• [5] U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). Household Language by Household Limited English Speaking Status. American Community Survey 2024, ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Table C16002. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://data.census.gov/table.
• [6] U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). Ratio of Income to Poverty Level in the Past 12 Months. American Community Survey 2024, ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Table C17002. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://data.census.gov/table.
• [7] U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). Housing Costs as a Percentage of Household Income in the Past 12 Months. American Community Survey 2024, ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Table B25140. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://data.census.gov/table.
• [8] U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). Health Insurance Coverage Status by Sex by Age. American Community Survey 2024, ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Table B27001. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://data.census.gov/table.
• [9] U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). Tenure by Units in Structure. American Community Survey 2024, ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Table B25032. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://data.census.gov/table.
• [10] U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). Plumbing Facilities for All Housing Units. American Community Survey 2024, ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Table B25047. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://data.census.gov/table.
• [11] U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). Tenure by Occupants per Room. American Community Survey 2024, ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Table B25014. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://data.census.gov/table.
• [12] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2024). Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Basic Data Files: Calendar Years 1987-Present. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/tri-basic-data-files-calendar-years-1987-present.
• [13] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2026). NPL Superfund Site Boundaries. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Land and Emergency Management. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/npl-superfund-site-boundaries-epa10.
• [14] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2026). RCRAInfo. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO). Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://echo.epa.gov/tools/data-downloads#hazardouswaste.