The Childhood Opportunity Index (COI) is a publicly available tool that evaluates neighborhood-level risks and resources for large metropolitan areas in the United States. Neighborhoods are identified by census tract and given an overall “opportunity” score based on 19 indicators that span three domains relevant to children’s health and development: educational opportunity, health, and environmental opportunity, and social and economic opportunity.

Educational opportunity is reflected by 8 indicators that include school poverty rate, student math and reading proficiency levels, and proximity to licensed early childhood education centers. Health and environmental opportunity are reflected by 5 indicators, including proximity to toxic waste sites, proximity to parks, and availability of healthy food retailers.

Social and economic opportunity is reflected by 5 indicators that include foreclosure rate, poverty rate, and proximity to employment. Each of the indicators was constructed using data collected from large-scale, nationally representative surveys (e.g., U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Toxic Release Inventory).

Complete information about the raw data sources and the methods for indicator derivation is available at http://www.diversitydatakids.org.