National Neighborhood Data Archive
Essential Workers Data
The National Neighborhood Data Archive (NaNDA) has recently published a new data product: Essential Workers by Census Tract and ZCTA (zip code tabulation area) United States. This dataset was created because certain occupations and industries were deemed “essential” during the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., including healthcare, food service, public transportation). Essential workers were at higher risk for contracting COVID-19, but often did not have adequate access to PPE and other safety measures. As a result, essential workers experienced higher rates of infection, hospitalization, and death than non-essential workers. In an effort to better understand worker inequities, our dataset contains:
- US census tracts and ZCTAs for the years 2016-2020
- Number of essential workers in those geographic areas for those years
- Proportion of workers in those geographic areas who were considered “essential” during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on ACLU designations.
