How far one ranking goes

Set side by side, the gradients of this book mostly point one way. Of 3030 outcome gradientsEstimandcount of rows of the pattern table that meet the stated ruleWeightsnone (count of rows)Populationoutcome gradients that the chapters of this book publish by bins of a ranking of placesPeriodas in each chapterSourceArea Deprivation Index outcomes that 1818 chaptersEstimandcount of rows of the pattern table that meet the stated ruleWeightsnone (count of rows)Populationoutcome gradients that the chapters of this book publish by bins of a ranking of placesPeriodas in each chapterSourceArea Deprivation Index chapters publish by tenths, fifths or quarters of places, 1717 outcome gradientsEstimandcount of rows of the pattern table that meet the stated ruleWeightsnone (count of rows)Populationoutcome gradients that the chapters of this book publish by bins of a ranking of placesPeriodas in each chapterSourceArea Deprivation Index are steadily worse from the least to the most deprived places. Birth outcomes, distance to college, incarceration, mortgage denials, smoking, disability, the supply of doctors, civic participation, life evaluation and life expectancy all move in step with the ranking. The rest do something else, and where they depart says as much about the ranking as about the outcomes.

Figure 1

Of 30 outcome gradients, 17 are steadily worse toward the more deprived end, 5 are better there and 2 show no detectable difference between the ends

One row per outcome: the mean in the least and the most deprived bin of the ranking its chapter uses, in that chapter's units, the rank correlation between bin order and bin mean, and the pattern under the rule in the methods

Domain	Outcome	Chapter	Least deprived bin	Most deprived bin	Rank correlation with bin order	Pattern	More deprived end	Bins	Unit	Ranking
Birth and school	Low birthweight	Birthweight and preterm birth	7.4	9.7	+1.00	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Share of live births (%)	Decile of county deprivation rank (1 = least deprived tenth of counties, 10 = most deprived)
Birth and school	Preterm birth	Birthweight and preterm birth	8.8	12.1	+1.00	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Share of live births (%)	Decile of county deprivation rank (1 = least deprived tenth of counties, 10 = most deprived)
Birth and school	Infant mortality	Infant mortality	4.0	8.8	+0.95	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Infant deaths per 1,000 live births	Decile of county deprivation rank (1 = least deprived tenth of counties, 10 = most deprived)
Birth and school	Reading gap, boys minus girls	Gender gaps in reading and math	−0.87	−0.79	+0.39	No detectable difference between the ends	No reading	10	Mean male minus female gap (grade levels)	Tenth of districts by median household income (1 = lowest, 10 = highest), read from the highest bin to the lowest
Birth and school	Math gap, boys minus girls	Gender gaps in reading and math	0.08	−0.20	−0.93	Steady	No reading	10	Mean male minus female gap (grade levels)	Tenth of districts by median household income (1 = lowest, 10 = highest), read from the highest bin to the lowest
Becoming an adult	Distance to a four-year college	College access, price and earnings	6.1	29.3	+1.00	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Miles to the nearest four-year campus, average resident	Tenth of counties by ADI national rank (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Becoming an adult	Predicted teen birth share	Teen births	13.0	38.5	+1.00	Steady	No reading	10	Predicted share of women with a teen birth (percent)	Tenth of places, means of the points by Area Deprivation Index national rank (1 = least deprived, 100 = most deprived)
Becoming an adult	Incarceration, Black children from low-income families	School discipline and incarceration	3.8	6.4	+0.99	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Percent incarcerated on April 1, 2010	Tenth of tracts by deprivation rank (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Becoming an adult	Incarceration, white children from low-income families	School discipline and incarceration	1.23	2.59	+1.00	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Percent incarcerated on April 1, 2010	Tenth of tracts by deprivation rank (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Home, work and money	Mortgage denial rate	Mortgage denials	7.8	13.8	+0.95	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Denied share of decided applications (%)	Tenth of places, means of the points by Area Deprivation Index national rank (1 = least deprived, 100 = most deprived)
Home, work and money	Renter households over the cost-burden line	Renting, affordability and eviction	44.5	47.6	−0.30	No detectable difference between the ends	Neither	10	Share paying more than 30% of income (%)	Area Deprivation Index tenth of tracts (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Home, work and money	Owner households over the cost-burden line	Renting, affordability and eviction	25.6	19.8	−0.88	Uneven	Better at the deprived end	10	Share paying more than 30% of income (%)	Area Deprivation Index tenth of tracts (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Home, work and money	Low-income renters over the cost-burden line	Renting, affordability and eviction	75.3	62.5	−1.00	Steady	Better at the deprived end	10	Low-income households paying more than 30% of income (%)	Area Deprivation Index tenth of tracts (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Environment and connection	Traffic proximity	Air pollution	74.7	39.0	−0.96	Steady	Better at the deprived end	10	Mean national percentile of the tract (0 to 100)	Decile of the Area Deprivation Index national rank (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Environment and connection	Fine particulate matter	Air pollution	64.3	47.8	−0.93	Steady	Better at the deprived end	10	Mean national percentile of the tract (0 to 100)	Decile of the Area Deprivation Index national rank (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Environment and connection	Voter turnout, 2020	Civic life, loneliness and partnership	72.1	56.4	−1.00	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Turnout or self-response (%)	Decile of county deprivation (1 = least deprived tenth of counties, 10 = most deprived)
Environment and connection	Census self-response, 2020	Civic life, loneliness and partnership	68.6	47.6	−1.00	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Turnout or self-response (%)	Decile of county deprivation (1 = least deprived tenth of counties, 10 = most deprived)
Environment and connection	Life evaluation (ladder score)	Life evaluation and daily feelings	7.17	6.93	−1.00	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Mean ladder score (0 to 10)	Decile of deprivation (1 = least deprived tenth of interviews, 10 = most deprived)
Health and care	Current smoking	Place and the length of a life	9.1	22.8	+1.00	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Percent of adults	Tenth of tracts by Area Deprivation Index (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Health and care	Annual checkup	Place and the length of a life	74.2	77.8	+1.00	Steady	Better at the deprived end	10	Percent of adults	Tenth of tracts by Area Deprivation Index (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Health and care	Chronic conditions that are high	Multiple chronic conditions	0.5	5.7	+1.00	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Mean number of high conditions (of nine)	Tenth of tracts by ADI national percentile (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Health and care	Adult disability	Disability, retirement and Medicare	23.3	42.9	+1.00	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Percent of adults	Tenth of tracts by Area Deprivation Index (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Health and care	Residents per primary care physician	Health behaviors and the supply of care	1,159	2,730	+1.00	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Residents per provider	County deprivation decile (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Health and care	Emergency visits per Medicare beneficiary	Disability, retirement and Medicare	571	677	+1.00	Steady	No reading	5	Visits per thousand beneficiaries per year	Fifth of counties by ADI
Early death	Premature death rate	Gun homicide and the causes of early death	307	701	+1.00	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Premature deaths per 100,000 residents, age-adjusted	Decile of the county area deprivation index (1 least deprived, 10 most deprived)
Early death	Overdose death rate	Overdose, alcohol and suicide	23.8	31.1	+0.09	Uneven	Worse at the deprived end	10	Deaths per 100,000 residents	Tenth of counties by Area Deprivation Index (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Early death	Suicide death rate	Overdose, alcohol and suicide	12.2	17.4	+0.81	Uneven	Worse at the deprived end	10	Deaths per 100,000 residents	Tenth of counties by Area Deprivation Index (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Early death	Homicide death rate, counties	Overdose, alcohol and suicide	4.8	13.6	+0.47	Uneven	Worse at the deprived end	10	Deaths per 100,000 residents	Tenth of counties by Area Deprivation Index (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Early death	Homicide death rate, tracts	Violence and the life-expectancy gap	1.8	14.8	+1.00	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year	Tenth of tracts by Area Deprivation Index (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)
Early death	Life expectancy at birth	Place and the length of a life	82.3	74.0	−1.00	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	10	Life expectancy at birth (years)	Tenth of places, means of the points by Area Deprivation Index national percentile (1 = least deprived, 100 = most deprived)

Show data

Data for Of 30 outcome gradients, 17 are steadily worse toward the more deprived end, 5 are better there and 2 show no detectable difference between the ends

bins	chapter	domain	least	most	outcome	ranking	rho	shape	side	unit
10	Birthweight and preterm birth	Birth and school	7.4	9.7	Low birthweight	Decile of county deprivation rank (1 = least deprived tenth of counties, 10 = most deprived)	1	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Share of live births (%)
10	Birthweight and preterm birth	Birth and school	8.8	12.1	Preterm birth	Decile of county deprivation rank (1 = least deprived tenth of counties, 10 = most deprived)	1	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Share of live births (%)
10	Infant mortality	Birth and school	4.0	8.8	Infant mortality	Decile of county deprivation rank (1 = least deprived tenth of counties, 10 = most deprived)	0.950	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Infant deaths per 1,000 live births
10	Gender gaps in reading and math	Birth and school	−0.87	−0.79	Reading gap, boys minus girls	Tenth of districts by median household income (1 = lowest, 10 = highest), read from the highest bin to the lowest	0.390	No detectable difference between the ends	No reading	Mean male minus female gap (grade levels)
10	Gender gaps in reading and math	Birth and school	0.08	−0.20	Math gap, boys minus girls	Tenth of districts by median household income (1 = lowest, 10 = highest), read from the highest bin to the lowest	−0.930	Steady	No reading	Mean male minus female gap (grade levels)
10	College access, price and earnings	Becoming an adult	6.1	29.3	Distance to a four-year college	Tenth of counties by ADI national rank (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	1	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Miles to the nearest four-year campus, average resident
10	Teen births	Becoming an adult	13.0	38.5	Predicted teen birth share	Tenth of places, means of the points by Area Deprivation Index national rank (1 = least deprived, 100 = most deprived)	1	Steady	No reading	Predicted share of women with a teen birth (percent)
10	School discipline and incarceration	Becoming an adult	3.8	6.4	Incarceration, Black children from low-income families	Tenth of tracts by deprivation rank (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	0.990	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Percent incarcerated on April 1, 2010
10	School discipline and incarceration	Becoming an adult	1.23	2.59	Incarceration, white children from low-income families	Tenth of tracts by deprivation rank (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	1	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Percent incarcerated on April 1, 2010
10	Mortgage denials	Home, work and money	7.8	13.8	Mortgage denial rate	Tenth of places, means of the points by Area Deprivation Index national rank (1 = least deprived, 100 = most deprived)	0.950	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Denied share of decided applications (%)
10	Renting, affordability and eviction	Home, work and money	44.5	47.6	Renter households over the cost-burden line	Area Deprivation Index tenth of tracts (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	−0.300	No detectable difference between the ends	Neither	Share paying more than 30% of income (%)
10	Renting, affordability and eviction	Home, work and money	25.6	19.8	Owner households over the cost-burden line	Area Deprivation Index tenth of tracts (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	−0.880	Uneven	Better at the deprived end	Share paying more than 30% of income (%)
10	Renting, affordability and eviction	Home, work and money	75.3	62.5	Low-income renters over the cost-burden line	Area Deprivation Index tenth of tracts (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	−1	Steady	Better at the deprived end	Low-income households paying more than 30% of income (%)
10	Air pollution	Environment and connection	74.7	39.0	Traffic proximity	Decile of the Area Deprivation Index national rank (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	−0.960	Steady	Better at the deprived end	Mean national percentile of the tract (0 to 100)
10	Air pollution	Environment and connection	64.3	47.8	Fine particulate matter	Decile of the Area Deprivation Index national rank (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	−0.930	Steady	Better at the deprived end	Mean national percentile of the tract (0 to 100)
10	Civic life, loneliness and partnership	Environment and connection	72.1	56.4	Voter turnout, 2020	Decile of county deprivation (1 = least deprived tenth of counties, 10 = most deprived)	−1	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Turnout or self-response (%)
10	Civic life, loneliness and partnership	Environment and connection	68.6	47.6	Census self-response, 2020	Decile of county deprivation (1 = least deprived tenth of counties, 10 = most deprived)	−1	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Turnout or self-response (%)
10	Life evaluation and daily feelings	Environment and connection	7.17	6.93	Life evaluation (ladder score)	Decile of deprivation (1 = least deprived tenth of interviews, 10 = most deprived)	−1	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Mean ladder score (0 to 10)
10	Place and the length of a life	Health and care	9.1	22.8	Current smoking	Tenth of tracts by Area Deprivation Index (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	1	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Percent of adults
10	Place and the length of a life	Health and care	74.2	77.8	Annual checkup	Tenth of tracts by Area Deprivation Index (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	1	Steady	Better at the deprived end	Percent of adults
10	Multiple chronic conditions	Health and care	0.5	5.7	Chronic conditions that are high	Tenth of tracts by ADI national percentile (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	1	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Mean number of high conditions (of nine)
10	Disability, retirement and Medicare	Health and care	23.3	42.9	Adult disability	Tenth of tracts by Area Deprivation Index (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	1	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Percent of adults
10	Health behaviors and the supply of care	Health and care	1,159	2,730	Residents per primary care physician	County deprivation decile (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	1	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Residents per provider
5	Disability, retirement and Medicare	Health and care	571	677	Emergency visits per Medicare beneficiary	Fifth of counties by ADI	1	Steady	No reading	Visits per thousand beneficiaries per year
10	Gun homicide and the causes of early death	Early death	307	701	Premature death rate	Decile of the county area deprivation index (1 least deprived, 10 most deprived)	1	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Premature deaths per 100,000 residents, age-adjusted
10	Overdose, alcohol and suicide	Early death	23.8	31.1	Overdose death rate	Tenth of counties by Area Deprivation Index (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	0.090	Uneven	Worse at the deprived end	Deaths per 100,000 residents
10	Overdose, alcohol and suicide	Early death	12.2	17.4	Suicide death rate	Tenth of counties by Area Deprivation Index (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	0.810	Uneven	Worse at the deprived end	Deaths per 100,000 residents
10	Overdose, alcohol and suicide	Early death	4.8	13.6	Homicide death rate, counties	Tenth of counties by Area Deprivation Index (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	0.470	Uneven	Worse at the deprived end	Deaths per 100,000 residents
10	Violence and the life-expectancy gap	Early death	1.8	14.8	Homicide death rate, tracts	Tenth of tracts by Area Deprivation Index (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)	1	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year
10	Place and the length of a life	Early death	82.3	74.0	Life expectancy at birth	Tenth of places, means of the points by Area Deprivation Index national percentile (1 = least deprived, 100 = most deprived)	−1	Steady	Worse at the deprived end	Life expectancy at birth (years)

The exceptions cluster

55 outcome gradientsEstimandcount of rows of the pattern table that meet the stated ruleWeightsnone (count of rows)Populationoutcome gradients that the chapters of this book publish by bins of a ranking of placesPeriodas in each chapterSourceArea Deprivation Index outcomes are better at the deprived end. Air pollution measured across the country is among them: traffic proximity falls from a mean national percentile of 7574.7 mean national percentile of tract traffic proximityEstimandbin mean as published in Air pollutionInterval95% CI 68.0 to 79.2Weightsas in Air pollutionPopulationleast deprived bin of decile of the Area Deprivation Index national rank (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)Periodas in Air pollutionSourceEPA EJScreenNoteCopied from the figure rows of Air pollution. in the least deprived tenth of tracts to 3939.0 mean national percentile of tract traffic proximityEstimandbin mean as published in Air pollutionInterval95% CI 35.4 to 42.1Weightsas in Air pollutionPopulationmost deprived bin of decile of the Area Deprivation Index national rank (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)Periodas in Air pollutionSourceEPA EJScreenNoteCopied from the figure rows of Air pollution. in the most deprived. Within a county the traffic comparison runs the other way, as Chapter 6.1, Air pollution shows. The routine checkup is another: it is more common in the most deprived tenth of tracts than in the least deprived, while the dental visit and screening tests are less common there.

Housing costs account for the rest. Owners and low-income renters in more deprived tracts are less often over the cost-burden line, and the share of all renters over it shows no detectable difference between the ends. The deprivation index is built partly from rent, home value, the mortgage cost and family income (Chapter 1.1, What the deprivation index measures), so a ratio of housing cost to income is sorted partly on its own parts.

Some death rates rise without a steady order

County rates of overdose, suicide and homicide are higher at the deprived end than at the least deprived end, but the tenths in between do not line up. The overdose rate is higher in the most deprived tenth of counties than in the least deprived, with a rank correlation of only +0.09+0.09 rank correlation between bin order and bin meanEstimandSpearman correlation over the published binsWeightsnone (bins counted once)Populationoverdose death rate, bins of tenth of counties by Area Deprivation Index (1 = least deprived, 10 = most deprived)Periodas in Overdose, alcohol and suicideSourceCDC injury and violence mapping across the tenths. Homicide is uneven across tenths of counties and steady across tenths of tracts, from a different source and period, which suggests that a county average mixes neighborhoods that the tract comparison keeps apart.

Figure 2

Within each domain, most outcomes move in one direction along the ranking, and the exceptions differ by domain

Mean and 95% interval for each bin of the ranking each chapter uses, one panel per outcome, each in its own units

Birth and schoolBecoming an adultHome, work and moneyEnvironment and connectionHealth and careEarly death

Birth and school outcomes by bin of the ranking each chapter uses

Low birthweight

Preterm birth

Infant mortality

Reading gap, boys minus girls

Math gap, boys minus girls

Mean in the chapter's units

Each panel is one outcome on its own scale; read the direction and the shape, not the size against another panel.

Show data

Data for Within each domain, most outcomes move in one direction along the ranking, and the exceptions differ by domain, Birth and school

bin	conf_high	conf_low	estimate	outcome
1, least deprived	7.68	7.18	7.43	Low birthweight
2	8.00	7.32	7.63	Low birthweight
3	8.36	7.55	7.96	Low birthweight
4	8.67	7.84	8.29	Low birthweight
5	8.65	7.97	8.37	Low birthweight
6	8.98	8.29	8.69	Low birthweight
7	9.50	8.57	9.05	Low birthweight
8	9.85	8.89	9.40	Low birthweight
9	10.18	9.00	9.63	Low birthweight
10, most deprived	10.26	9.20	9.68	Low birthweight
1, least deprived	9.01	8.59	8.82	Preterm birth
2	9.48	9.08	9.28	Preterm birth
3	10.12	9.47	9.82	Preterm birth
4	10.29	9.80	10.05	Preterm birth
5	10.53	9.98	10.27	Preterm birth
6	11.28	10.26	10.80	Preterm birth
7	11.22	10.56	10.92	Preterm birth
8	11.59	10.92	11.27	Preterm birth
9	11.82	11.01	11.42	Preterm birth
10, most deprived	12.66	11.32	12.05	Preterm birth
1, least deprived	4.19	3.83	4.00	Infant mortality
2	5.32	4.88	5.11	Infant mortality
3	5.97	5.51	5.78	Infant mortality
4	6.34	5.86	6.09	Infant mortality
5	7.06	6.37	6.72	Infant mortality
6	7.34	6.70	7.05	Infant mortality
7	8.12	7.12	7.65	Infant mortality
8	7.96	6.73	7.38	Infant mortality
9	7.92	6.49	7.24	Infant mortality
10, most deprived	9.46	8.05	8.77	Infant mortality
1, least deprived	−0.781	−0.971	−0.867	Reading gap, boys minus girls
2	−0.735	−0.881	−0.806	Reading gap, boys minus girls
3	−0.725	−0.854	−0.799	Reading gap, boys minus girls
4	−0.687	−0.858	−0.767	Reading gap, boys minus girls
5	−0.692	−0.841	−0.760	Reading gap, boys minus girls
6	−0.678	−0.805	−0.737	Reading gap, boys minus girls
7	−0.701	−0.855	−0.782	Reading gap, boys minus girls
8	−0.704	−0.861	−0.780	Reading gap, boys minus girls
9	−0.718	−0.880	−0.795	Reading gap, boys minus girls
10, most deprived	−0.714	−0.885	−0.791	Reading gap, boys minus girls
1, least deprived	0.119	0.038	0.080	Math gap, boys minus girls
2	0.063	−0.032	0.008	Math gap, boys minus girls
3	0.001	−0.101	−0.061	Math gap, boys minus girls
4	−0.017	−0.114	−0.063	Math gap, boys minus girls
5	−0.032	−0.111	−0.071	Math gap, boys minus girls
6	−0.013	−0.086	−0.051	Math gap, boys minus girls
7	−0.049	−0.154	−0.102	Math gap, boys minus girls
8	−0.093	−0.196	−0.143	Math gap, boys minus girls
9	−0.102	−0.190	−0.145	Math gap, boys minus girls
10, most deprived	−0.153	−0.259	−0.203	Math gap, boys minus girls

What this count is

The count adds up findings from different records. Births are ranked by county, life expectancy by tract and the gender gaps in test scores by district income, in different years. Several health measures are modeled partly from the census inputs of the index, so their agreement with it is partly built in. The count does not say how strongly places shape any outcome, and it would shift with a different threshold, a different interval test or a different ranking. The report lists every row with its unit and ranking.

---

Go deeper

• The report: every estimate with its interval and sample size.
• Tables: every figure of the report as a table.

Data sources

• Area Deprivation IndexArea Deprivation Index tenths, fifths or quarters of tracts or counties, as each chapter defines them; district income tenths for the gender gapsYears: 2023 release (version 4.0.1; built on ACS 2019-2023) · Weights: as in each chapter · License: Free for non-commercial use; cite the Neighborhood Atlas and Kind and Buckingham
• Published estimates from cited studiesNone in the table; the chapter reads only this book's own figuresYears: as reported in each study · Weights: not applicable · License: Quoted from published research for commentary

All data sources

How to cite

@misc{singh2026howfaronerankinggoes,
  author = {Singh, Vishal},
  title = {How far one ranking goes},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://vishalsingh.org/zipcode/how-far-one-ranking-goes},
  note = {In ZIP Code Destiny. Published 28 October 2026.}
}