Mining dependent counties are those where at least 11 percent of the county’s annual average earnings came from mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction or at least 7 percent of the annual average number of jobs in the county were in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction over the 3-year average of 2019, 2021, and 2022.
Retirement Destination Counties
Retirement destination counties are those where the number of residents ages 55 to 74 increased by at least 15 percent from 2010 to 2020 because of migration. Based on data from the Applied Population Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Public Education Expenditures
This layer data was obtained from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data (CCD) School District Finance Survey. The survey provides finance data for all local education agencies (LEAs) that provide free public elementary and secondary education in the United States. County-level data was generated by CARES by aggregating school-district level records with valid reported figures for total students and total expenditures.
Expenditures are spent by each public school district on instruction, support services, capital outlay, and non-elementary/secondary education.
Non-Specialized Counties
Non-specialized counties are those that did not have a high concentration of earnings or jobs in any one of farming, mining, manufacturing, or Federal and State Government and did not have a high concentration of economic activity (as measured using a weighted index) in recreation. Metropolitan and non metropolitan areas are based on the U.S. Office of Management and Budget 2023 delineation of core based statistical areas.
Banking Deserts
This layer displays the average number of active branches of banks as of 2024. Data are available at the census tract.
Farming Dependent Counties
Farming dependent counties are those where at least 20 percent of the county’s annual average labor and proprietors’ earnings came from farming or at least 17 percent of the annual average number of jobs in the county were derived from farming over the 3-year average of 2019, 2021, and 2022.
Maximum Temperature – Average Days Above 95 Degrees
This updated dataset reports the total number of days in which an extreme heat event was above 95 degrees between 2021-2023 at the county and Census Tract levels. Data were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (EPHTN).
Housing Stress Counties
Housing stress counties are those where at least 29 percent of owner- and renter-occupied housing units had at least one of the following conditions in the 2018–22 5-year ACS: 1) lacking complete plumbing facilities, 2) lacking complete kitchen facilities, 3) with 1.01 or more occupants per room, 4) selected monthly owner costs as a percentage of household income greater than 30 percent, or 5) gross rent as a percentage of household income greater than 30 percent.
Heat Index – Average Days Above 95th Percentile
This updated dataset reports the total number of days in which an extreme heat event was above the 95th percentile between 2021-2023 at the county and Census tract levels. Data were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (EPHTN).
Low Employment Counties
Low employment counties are those where less than 63 percent of residents ages 25 to 54 were employed in the 2018–22 5-year ACS.Metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas are based on the U.S. Office of Management and Budget 2023 delineation of core based statistical areas.