Description:

The American Bankruptcy Institute provides information on consumer and business bankruptcy filings each quarter. Data are from the Administrative Office of the US Courts.

Description:

Boxwood Means, Inc., the real estate research firm and Value Added Reseller of residential and commercial data from the nation's largest vendor of real estate information, calculated median home sale price, residential sales volume, loan-to-value ratio and percent change in the median sale price for several time periods. These indicators were provided to TRF at the summary levels of blockgroup, tract, county, Census place, zipcode, and state. Indicators are shown only for areas were there is complete coverage of all contained geographies. TRF has licensed the use of this data from Boxwood Means for use in its PolicyMap application.

PolicyMap includes the counts and median sale prices of the recent home sales for 2006 and all quarters of 2007, and also shows how median sale prices have increased or decreased from 2001 to 2006, 2003 to 2006, and 2005 to 2006. Every few months, updated quarterly data will be added to PolicyMap. Due to the elapsed time between property sale transactions, Boxwood's receipt of county sales reports and their transmission of the data to TRF, PolicyMap data will generally lag two quarters behind the current date.

When PolicyMap refers to residential sales, it means the subset of sales that are at-arms-length transactions, over $5,000 in value and only includes properties with a completed structure; so-called "dollar sales," sales of vacant land, development lots, and multifamily residential buildings are excluded. Change calculations are based on the actual sale price at Time 1 and the actual sale price at Time 2. Change calculations are neither adjusted nor controlled for inflation. TRF does not calculate percent change between quarters at the blockgroup level due to insufficient data.

Boxwood Means receives sale records and census identifiers (blockgroup, tract, county) from its vendor. The vendor geocodes home sales using the US Census 2004 Tiger file. Though Boxwood Means' vendor locates most of the records, between 1% and 10% of the records are not assigned a tract or blockgroup designation. Every record in the database includes a physical address (as opposed to a mailing address, Rural Route address, block-lot, or P.O. box), including the county and zipcode+4. Using these geographic markers, through its own software and methods Boxwood Means assigns a census identifier to the remaining records that lack a blockgroup designation.

Boxwood Means matches sale records to state and county addresses with 100% certainty, and to zipcodes with more than 99% certainty. Because of the lesser degree of certainty at smaller levels of geography, and because records are still assigned to a county even though they may not be assigned to a tract, totals for counties may be greater than the sum of the counts in the tracts contained in the counties. Addresses in rural counties and places experiencing rapid development are inherently more difficult to assign a census geography. Census tract and blockgroup matches are generally very strong -- 98% certainty in most counties – but 2-3% of counties have match rates of only 20-30% certainty, mostly due to poor addressing systems and incomplete street data in these places.

Boxwood Means' source has 100% coverage of transactions in places where counties report sales. These include the following counties:

PROHIBITED SUBSCRIBERS TO HOME SALE DATA:

Our suppliers may have placed restrictions on the redistribution of home sale information to certain subscribers through PolicyMap. As a result, PolicyMap is prohibited from providing home sale statistics to the companies listed below (unless authorized by our suppliers with prior written approval).

By accessing home sale data in PolicyMap, you acknowledge that you are not an employee of the following mortgage originating institutions: Countrywide Financial Corp., Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Washington Mutual, Chase Home Finance, Bank of America, CitiMortgage, Inc., GMAC-RFC, GMAC Residential Holdings, IndyMac Bancorp, Inc., Wachovia, American Home Mortgage Investment, Golden West Financial Corp./Wold, SunTrust Mortgage, Inc., National City Mortgage, Aurora Loan Services, Inc. (AA), PHH Mortgage, ABN Amro Mortgage, First Horizon Home Loans, GreenPoint Mortgage Funding, and MortgageIT. You also acknowledge that you are not an employee of one of the following companies: Acxiom, America Online (AOL), C&S Marketing, Choice Point, CoStar Group, Database America, DataQuick, Data Warehouse, Dolan Information Services, Domania, Donnelley, Experian, Equifax, Fidelity National Infomration Services (FNIS), First Data Solutions, FIServ, FNC, Google, Haines, InfoUSA, International Data Management (IDM), iPlace, Lending Tree, Lexis/Nexis, MacDonald-Detweiler, MicroGeneral Corporation, National Information Services, Polk, Seisint, Stewart Title/ Stewart Information, SW Financial, Thompason-West Group, TransUnion, US Search, Veros and Yahoo.

If you are an employee of one of the above listed companies and wish to become a PolicyMap subscriber with access to home sale data, please contact TRF at pmap@policymap.com. We will approach our suppliers on your behalf.

Description:

Demographic data for 2000 is from the US Bureau of the Census' Summary File 3 (SF3). This dataset is derived from the longer version of the household survey that takes place every ten years. SF3 data include information on housing conditions as well as characteristics of the household and its members.

In addition to displaying Census counts (i.e the number of people living in poverty), TRF calculates and provides percentages through PolicyMap (i.e the percentage of people living in poverty). TRF does not, however, calculate percentages in cases where the denominator of the calculation is less than ten. For example, if an area has a population of 9 people and 8 of those people are poor, this area will appear grayed out in PolicyMap. TRF does this because the calculation would otherwise show an 89% poverty rate and would likely skew the interpretation of the map.

Description:

County Business Pattern Data (CBP) is an annual series that provides economic data by industry. The data describe the number and type of jobs that are located in any given place. This is different from describing the occupations of people living in the same area.

CBP covers most of the country's economic activity. The series excludes data on self-employed individuals, employees of private households, railroad employees, agricultural production employees, and most government employees.

CBP data are extracted from the Business Register, the Census Bureau's file of all known single and multi-establishment companies. The Company Organization Survey (annual) and Economic Censuses (every five years) provide individual establishment data for multi-location firms. Data for single-location firms are obtained from various surveys conducted by the Census Bureau, such as the Economic Censuses, the Annual Survey of Manufacturers, and Current Business Surveys, as well as from administrative records of the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Jobs in the CBP data are reported by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS, pronounced "Nakes") categories. NAICS is the standard for use by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the collection, analysis, and publication of statistical data related to the national business economy. NAICS is run through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and, in 1997, replaced the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. Business establishments self-assign their NAICS code based on the primary economic activities in which they engage.

The number of jobs per NAICS category are reported at the county and state level. At the zip code level, in order to preserve anonymity, CBP does not disclose a specific number of employees but rather reports the number of establishments with employees in various ranges. Where CPB provides the number of employees as falling within a range, TRF represents these areas as having Insufficient Data on the map.

Description:

The Census' Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) dataset provides more current estimates of selected income and poverty statistics than the most recent decennial census. Estimates are created for states and counties. This dataset mainly serves administrators of federal programs who need current statistics on the demonstrated need of places.

Description:

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) dataset provides the number of births, the number of infant deaths, and the rate of deaths to infants for every 1000 live births by maternal residents of the US. The CDC only reports these numbers for counties with populations of 250,000 or more, and it suppresses the rate where there are fewer than 20 deaths reported.

Description:

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) dataset provides the percent of those overweight, those obese, and those neither overweight nor obese among residents of the US. The CDC defines overweight people as those having a weight classification by Body Mass Index (BMI) between 25.0 and 29.9. It defines obese individuals as having a weight classification by BMI between 30.0 and 99.8. Those people with a weight classification by BMI of less than 24.9 are considered neither overweight nor obese. The CDC only reports these numbers for states. States for which data is not available in a given year are represented as having Insufficient Data on the map.

Description:

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) dataset provides the number and percent of births where prenatal care began during the first trimester and the number and percent of births where prenatal care was received in only the third trimester or not at all. Additional prenatal care categories give these numbers and rates for mothers under age 20.

The data also includes the number and percent of births to mothers under the age of 20, with break outs for mother under age 18 and mothers 18 and 19.

The CDC only reports data on prenatal care for counties with populations of 100,000 or more. The CDC only reports data on births to young mothers (under 20 years, under 18 years, and between 18 and 19 years, inclusive) for counties with populations of 250,000 or more.

Description:

TRF received the EPA's National Priorities List from the EPA for use in PolicyMap. The EPA regularly updates this list. The points in PolicyMap are as of March 2007.

Description:

Claritas, Inc. is a consumer data and demographics firm that produces annual small-area estimates that update many of the data from the decennial census. Claritas also produces projections, taking into account a variety of factors, to estimate the likely characteristics and counts of households and people five years into the future. Claritas projections are estimates made on the basis of certain broad assumptions about how populations change.

PolicyMap is licensed to provide 2007 and 2012 Claritas data to our subscribers. TRF also used Claritas estimates and projections to perform a variety of calculations in PolicyMap, which are also available only to our subscribers.

As with Census data, TRF calculates and provides percentages through PolicyMap. TRF does not, however, calculate percentages in cases where the denominator of the calculation is less than ten. For example, if an area has a population of 9 people and 8 of those people are poor, this area will appear grayed out in PolicyMap. TRF does this because the calculation would otherwise show an 89% poverty rate and would likely skew the interpretation of the map.

Claritas estimates and projections are based on many independent datasets from which they estimate how and where the population will change. These datasets take into account inflation, so income and value figures from Claritas refer to the dollars of the year that the data pertains to. For example, home value in 2007 is given in 2007 dollars; home value for 20012 is given in what 2012 dollars are estimated to be; etc.

Description:

The Department of Homeland Security's Yearbook of Immigration Statistics is an annual publication on documented foreign nationals in the United States. PolicyMap contains data by state on the number of people granted Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) status, by region of their birth, and by selected countries. The selected countries of birth included in PolicyMap were determined by the number of people that country sent between 2004 and 2007. If the volume of immigrants receiving green cards in any year was more than 15,000 people, the country was included.

Description:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program compiles standardized incident reports from local law enforcement agencies in order to produce reliable, uniform, and national crime data. The UCR Program is voluntary, and includes data for only counties and cities with population over 10,000. As a result, coverage is not universal. The UCR Program collects data on known offenses and persons arrested by law enforcement agencies. The UCR Program does not record the findings of a court, coroner, jury, or the decision of a prosecutor.

Data was reported to the FBI for selected places and counties by local law enforcement agencies. The FBI compiled the data and provided TRF with those statistics that met FBI reporting standards. County counts reflect the sum of all reported offenses from agencies within the county that submitted data to the FBI. The county count may not include all offenses if agencies within the county did not report or if reported figures did not comply with FBI reporting standards. Those places or counties either not reporting to the FBI or not complying with FBI reporting standards and, thus, not compiled by the FBI, are shown as having Insufficient Data in the map. FBI UCR data should not be compared across places or counties, and should not be compared from one year to another. As the FBI does not provide geographic identifiers, TRF assigned the data to places and counties using the US Department of Justice's Law Enforcement Agency Identifier Crosswalk. The Crosswalk relates originating agency identifiers to Federal Information Processing Standards Codes (FIPS codes). TRF used the matched FIPS codes to display the data on the map.

TRF divided the total number of aggravated assaults that were reported in a county or place by the population count provided by the FBI and multiplied that ratio by 100,000. The population count used for places in this calculation is from the FBI. The county population count is an estimate of the number of people served by the agencies within the county that report offenses. Data was reported to the FBI for selected places and counties by local law enforcement agencies.

Description:

GreatSchools is a national, independent nonprofit organization providing elementary, middle and high school information for public, private and charter schools nationwide. TRF licensed GreatSchools' school district test score information for incorporation in PolicyMap. TRF determined a threshold for each state to determine which data would show a descriptive map of school performance. Therefore, some data are not represented in PolicyMap where TRF found data was unavailable in most school districts.

Description:

GreatSchools is a national, independent nonprofit organization providing elementary, middle and high school information for public, private and charter schools nationwide. TRF licensed GreatSchools' school directory and test score information for incorporation in PolicyMap.

Description:

The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), which was enacted by Congress in 1975, requires most mortgage lenders located in metropolitan areas to collect data about their housing-related lending activity, report the data annually to the government, and make the data publicly available. The public database of lending activity is called Loan Application Register and Transmittal Sheets (LARS & TS). TRF aggregated originated purchase and refinance loans for owner-occupied, one-to-four family dwellings, in order to construct categories that would be useful to policymakers and descriptive of neighborhoods and markets, such as Subprime Refinance Loans, or Purchase Loans to African Americans.

When performing aggregations and calculations on the HMDA data, medians were not calculated and percents were not computed where the count of loan events of that type or the denominator of the calculation was less than five. These places are identified on the map as having Insufficient Data.

Subprime Loans and TRF's Subprime Loan Calculations

TRF classifies loans as subprime if it had a reported rate spread. The rate spread on a loan is the difference between the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on the loan and the treasury security yields as of the date of the loan's origination. Rate spreads are only reported by financial institutions if the APR is 3 or more percentage points higher for a first lien loan, or 5 or more percentage points higher for a second lien loan. A rate spread of 3 or more suggests that a loan is of notably higher cost than a typical loan, indicating that it can be classified as subprime. Likewise, all loans without reported rate spreads are considered to be prime, as the APR is within reasonable range of the treasury security yield.

"80-20" or "Piggyback" Loans and TRF's Algorithm for "80-20" or "Piggyback" Loan Estimates

PolicyMap contains thematic data on Number of loans originated for the purpose of a home purchase that had multiple mortgages in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Termed "80-20 loans" or "piggyback loans", a multiple mortgage transaction is when a buyer obtains at least two loans in order to purchase a home. The second loan finances that part of the purchase price not being financed by the first loan. The 80-20 or piggyback loan has been used to avoid underwriting standards held by most lenders that require private mortgage insurance (or PMI) when less than a 20% down payment is made by the buyer. Studies suggest that these transactions have a higher risk of default and foreclosure as the homebuyers have little or no equity at risk. HMDA data does not explicitly identify 80-20 or piggyback loans. HMDA data does not explicitly identify 80-20 or piggyback loans. TRF created an algorithm for estimating transactions involving multiple loans to purchase a property. First- and second-position loans in the same census tract, from the same lender, and to applicants with the same race, ethnicity, gender, and income were flagged as multiple loans for the same property. These loans were then combined into one record, the loan amounts summed, thus reflecting the total loan for the property transaction. These loans were originated for the purchase of an owner-occupied, one-to-four family dwelling, as reported by HMDA.

"Other" Races

PolicyMap contains data for specific race categories and for grouped race categories, such as those identified as "other" races. "Other" races is defined as American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and individuals who either did not provide information or provided inapplicable information.

Prime Loans and TRF's Prime Loan Calculations

Prime loans are defined as loans with no reported rate spread. TRF assumes for the purpose of its PolicyMap calculations that a loan without a reported rate spread is of a "typical" APR and most likely prime. (The rate spread on a loan is the difference between the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on the loan and the treasury security yields as of the date of the loan's origination. Rate spreads are only reported by financial institutions if the APR is 3 or more percentage points higher for a first lien loan, or 5 or more percentage points higher for a second lien loan.)

HMDA for Census Places

In its native form, loan applications reported to HMDA do not contain Census Places identifiers. TRF aggregated HMDA data to the Place level by creating a correspondence between Census tracts and Places. A tract was considered part of a Place if it was completely contained by the Place. In the event a tract was divided in two or more sections, the tract was considered to belong to the Place that the largest section of the tract was located.

Description:

TRF downloaded Nursing Facility, Hospital, and Critical Access Hospital points from the HRSA Geospatial Database. These geocoded locations from the HRSA Geospatial Data Warehouse are from a "Provider of Service" extract from the Online Survey and Certification Reporting System database maintained by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. They are included in the HRSA Warehouse because they are the most readily-obtainable data on various classes of health care facility such as hospitals, hospices, rural health clinics, etc.

The Nursing Facility locations provided by HRSA are those facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid for individuals requiring nursing care and assistance with daily life activities. The Hospitals are those facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid Services for individuals requiring temporary or long-term medical treatment. The Critical Access Hospitals are those institutions participating in Medicare and Medicaid and meeting the following requirements: being located in rural areas and being located more than 35 miles from any other Hospital or Critical Access Hospital, having no more than 25 inpatient beds and maintaining an average length of stay of 96 hours per patient for acute inpatient care, and providing 24 hour emergency care services.

Description:

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) receives quarterly aggregate data from the United States Postal Service (USPS) on addresses identified by the USPS as having been "vacant" or "No-Stat" in the previous quarter. These data represent the universe of all addresses in the United States and are updated every three months. No-Stat addresses include Rural Route addresses vacant for 90 days or longer, addresses for businesses or homes under construction and not yet occupied, and addresses in urban areas identified by a carrier as not likely to be active for some time. TRF did not calculate percents of vacant and No-Stat addresses for those areas with less than five addresses. These areas are identified in PolicyMap as having Insufficient Data. As of June 30, 2008, HUD and the USPS offer data divided into three categories: business, residential and other. For purposes of posting meaningful data, TRF chose not to map "other" vacant or no-stat counts or percents. However, the total vacant, total percent vacant, the total No-Stat and total percent No-Stat include the sum of all three categories: business, residential and other.

One note of caution about the percent change variables for 2007 and 2008: the USPS geocoding methodology and some of the USPS business practices have produced anomalies in the data over time, which may result in spikes in the total address count in a tract that can not necessarily be attributed as growth since the previous year. Also, zip code splitting, may result in similar spikes or drops in total addresses that can not necessarily be attributed to growth or decline.

Description:

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) conducts a periodic survey of households living in HUD-subsidized housing. A Picture of Subsidized Households in 2000 is the most recent edition, providing characteristics of assisted housing units and residents. TRF summarized these data at the county and census tract levels.

Description:

Fair Market Rent (FMR) is established by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for each fiscal year. FMR is used primarily to determine payment standard amounts for Federal housing assistance programs. FMR is a gross rent estimates and include the shelter rent, plus the cost of all tenant-paid utilities, except telephones, cable or satellite television service, and internet service. The levels at which FMR is set is expressed as a percentile point within the rent distribution of standard-quality rental housing units. The current definition used is the 40th percentile rent, meaning that 40% of rental units can be rented at or below this threshold.

Description:

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) established Area Median Incomes (AMI) for households of various sizes, which are used to determine eligibility for HUD's assisted housing programs, including Public Housing, Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments program, Section 202 housing for the elderly, and Section 811 housing for persons with disabilities.

Many non-federal and non-housing programs also use HUD's income guidelines, often specifying a percentage of the median income that a household's income must fall below in order to qualify. PolicyMap includes AMI at a variety of percentages for a variety of household sizes.

Description:

TRF downloaded and geocoded the properties listed in HUD's Multifamily database as of 5/1/2007. TRF was able to locate approximately 87% of these developments on a map.

Description:

HUD's new Neighborhood Stabilization Program (www.hud.gov/nsp) provides emergency assistance to state and local governments to acquire and redevelop foreclosed properties that might otherwise become sources of abandonment and blight within their communities. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) provides grants to every state and certain local communities to purchase foreclosed or abandoned homes and to rehabilitate, resell, or redevelop these homes in order to stabilize neighborhoods and stem the decline of house values of neighboring homes. The program is authorized under Title III of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 established three very specific targeting responsibilities for state and local governments implementing the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

(1) The statute specifies that "all of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available under this section shall be used with respect to individuals and families whose income does not exceed 120 percent of area median income";

(2) It further states that "not less than 25 percent of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available under this section shall be used for the purchase and redevelopment of abandoned or foreclosed homes or residential properties that will be used to house individuals or families whose incomes do not exceed 50 percent of area median income";

(3) Finally, it indicates that grantees should give priority emphasis in targeting the funds that they receive to "those metropolitan areas, metropolitan cities, urban areas, rural areas, low- and moderate-income areas, and other areas with the greatest need, including those--

(A) with the greatest percentage of home foreclosures;

(B) with the highest percentage of homes financed by a subprime Mortgage related loan; and

(C) identified by the State or unit of general local government as likely to face a significant rise in the rate of home foreclosures."

To assist local and state governments at meeting these requirements, TRF has chosen to display blockgroup-level key indicators for the determination of eligibility for NSP funds.

PolicyMap shows whether an area is considered Eligible, Partially Eligible or Not Eligible. Areas that are shown in dark purple on the map as Eligible qualify as areas of low-, moderate, and middle-income (LMMH) benefit, according to HUD. These areas are defined as places where more than 51% of the people in the area had incomes in 2000 less than 120% of Area Median Income (AMI). Areas shown on the map in light purple and labeled as Partially Eligible include both eligible and ineligible areas within a blockgroup; users will need to consult HUD data directly to determine if their site meets income eligibility guidelines. Yellow areas of the map are not eligible. Grey shading in the map indicates that the data released by HUD did not include these areas.

PolicyMap also shows HUD's estimated foreclosure/abandonment risk score for each neighborhood. Scores range from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates that HUD's analysis suggests a very low risk and 10 suggests a very high risk. 10 indicates that an area is in the highest 10 percent of risk nationwide for foreclosure and abandonment based on the combination of HUD's foreclosure risk estimate and vacancy rate. This score does not provide the actual level of foreclosures in each neighborhood, but rather indicates that there is a risk for problems. Grey shading in the map indicates that either the data released by HUD did not include these areas or that HUD gave these locations more than one score.

PolicyMap shows HUD's predicted 18-month underlying problem foreclosure rate, as well. As is true with the foreclosure/abandonment risk score, this rate does not provide the actual level of foreclosures in an area, but rather predicts what the foreclosure risk might be going forward. This HUD model takes the estimated count of foreclosure starts over 18 months through June 2008 divided by the estimated number of mortgages times 100. Grey shading in the map indicates that either the data released by HUD did not include these areas or that HUD gave these locations more than one rate.

At the Census tract level, PolicyMap shows the Federal Reserve Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data on percent of all loans made between 2004 and 2006 that are high cost. These data represent the percent of conventional loans made between 2004 and 2006 as reported by HMDA where the rate spread is 3 percentage points above the Treasury security of comparable maturity. These data were released by HUD for the NSP. Grey areas of the map indicate that HUD did not provide values for these Census tracts; these areas are shown in the map as having Insufficient Data.

Additional data provided by HUD for the NSP include the HUD USPS Vacancy rates, which are available in the Neighborhood Conditions tab on PolicyMap.

Description:

Qualified Census Tracts:
PolicyMap downloaded data on Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Qualified Census Tracts (QCT) from tables at HUD’s website. A Qualified Census Tract is any census tract (or equivalent geographic area defined by the Bureau of the Census) in which at least 50 percent of households have an income less than 60 percent of the Area Median Gross Income (AMGI). There is a limit on the number of Qualified Census Tracts in any Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) or Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA) that may be designated to receive an increase in eligible basis: all of the designated census tracts within a given MSA/PMSA may not together contain more than 20 percent of the total population of the MSA/PMSA. For purposes of HUD designations of Qualified Census Tracts, all non-metropolitan areas in a state are treated as if they constituted a single metropolitan area.

Difficult Development Areas:
PolicyMap downloaded data on Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Difficult Development Areas (DDA) from tables at HUD’s website. A Difficult Development Area is any area designated by the Secretary of HUD as an area that has high construction, land, and utility costs relative to the Area Median Gross Income (AMGI). All designated Difficult Development Areas in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) or Primary Metropolitan Statistical Areas (PMSA) may not contain more than 20 percent of the aggregate population of all MSAs/PMSAs, and all designated areas not in metropolitan areas may not contain more than 20 percent of the aggregate population of all non-metropolitan counties.

GO Zones are areas determined by the President to warrant individual or individual and public assistance from the Federal Government under the Stafford Act by reason of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, or Wilma. They are treated as DDAs, and the limitation that they do not contain more than 20 percent of the aggregate population of all MSAs/PMSAs is not taken into account.

Description:

The Internal Revenue Service's Statistics of Income (IRS SOI) division produces annual summary statistics on selected income and tax items of individual income tax returns filed in a tax year with the IRS. This includes every Form 1040, 1040A, and 1040EZ.

Income tax return filings correspond to neither households nor persons. For example, two married people with one child might choose to file their tax returns together, including the child as a dependent. Or, they might choose to file separately, with the husband claiming the child (with a total of two exemptions on that return) and the wife filing with one exemption for herself. Alternately, there are also cases where this household would file three returns, depending on the income, assets, dividends or capital gains/losses of the child.

In order to protect the privacy of individual filers, data may be suppressed in a few ways and for several reasons. ZIP codes from which fewer than 10 returns were filed were suppressed by IRS SOI. These places are denoted in the legend as Insufficient Data. The data for these ZIP Codes are not included in the state totals.

An additional disclosure protection technique removed any return that represented a specified percentage of the total of any particular cell. For example, if one return represented 75% of the value of a given cell, that return was suppressed from the tabulation. The actual threshold percentage used, however, is not released by the IRS SOI. The returns suppressed in this manner are not included in the state totals. These places are denoted in the legend as Insufficient Data.

TRF does not calculate percentages in cases where the denominator of the calculation is less than ten. For example, if an area has 9 income tax filers and 8 of those filers claimed the EITC, this area will appear grayed out in PolicyMap. TRF does this because the calculation would otherwise show that 89% of filers in an area claimed the EITC and would likely skew the interpretation of the map. These places are denoted in the legend as having Insufficient Data.

Description:

The Common Core of Data (CCD) is a program of the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics that collects selected data about all public schools, public school districts and state education agencies in the United States every year. Data are supplied by state education agency officials.

Description:

The New America Foundation's Federal Education Budget Project provides data on federal funding, demographics and student achievement for every school district in the country. The New America Foundation posts data they have accessed from various sources for public research purposes. The New America Foundation reports the total number of students by school district based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics' Common Core of Data. They report the percent of students in poverty by school district based on data from the US Census Bureau Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE). The New America Foundation reports student proficiency in reading and math by school district based on data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress of the National Center for Education Statistics. They report state and local per pupil expenditures by school district based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics' Common Core of Data. The New America Foundation reports federal per pupil direct aid by school district based on data from the US Department of Education. The Total Federal Direct Aid includes No Child Left Behind Title I Grants to local school districts and IDEA Special Education State Grants.

Description:

The State of NJ Department of Education makes available on their website a New Jersey School Report Card. The Report Card contains information ranging from class size to attendance rates, to dropout rates. This dropout rate data is included in PolicyMap as part of The Reinvestment Fund's ongoing work with the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers.

Description:

The NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development makes available a dataset of residential housing units authorized by building permits, from the Census, on a monthly basis for the counties and municipalities of NJ. The building permit data displayed in PolicyMap is summarized by quarter. The municipalities listed in the dataset were able to be assigned to the corresponding county subdivision in most cases. This data is included in PolicyMap as part of The Reinvestment Fund's ongoing work with the New Jersey Housing Mortgage Finance Agency.

Description:

The NJ Housing Mortgage Finance Agency provided to PolicyMap income and rent guidelines used in their housing programs. This data is originally from HUD and the NJ Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), but was conveyed to TRF by and intended for the use of NJ HMFA.

Description:

NES provide annual estimates of self-employed people compiled from IRS tax forms filed by establishments with receipts of at least $1,000 per year. The Arts and Culture Indicators Project (ACIP) of the Urban Institute compiled NES data on independent artists to complement arts employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Survey (OES). NES summarizes the number of establishments, including self-employed artists, without paid employees that are subject to federal income tax. Most non-employers are self-employed individuals operating small, unincorporated businesses, which may or may not be the owner's principal source of income. NES data are organized by industry and use the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS). The NES files prepared by ACIP estimate the number and percent of establishments in the industry classified as "independent artists" (NAICS code 71151).

The category of "independent artists" is defined by NAICS as:Independent (i.e., freelance) individuals primarily engaged in performing in artistic productions, in creating artistic and cultural works or productions, or in providing technical expertise necessary for these productions. This industry also includes athletes and other celebrities exclusively engaged in endorsing products and making speeches or public appearances for which they receive a fee.

PolicyMap used this data from the report Cultural Vitality in Communities: Interpretation and Indicators. This report introduces a definition of cultural vitality that includes the range of cultural activity people around the country find significant, then uses this definition understand and source the data necessary to document arts and culture in communities. The information captured by NES is part of an initial set of arts and culture indicators derived from nationally available data.

The data includes part-time and temporary work by artists, as well as work by self-employed artists. The data is a population measurement, and is not subject to sampling error. Limitations include (1) lack of occupational detail: NES groups all types of artists under one category—independent artists—which, unlike OES, cannot be broken up into subcategories of artists; (2) inclusion of non-artists: the independent artist category consists mostly of visual and performing artists, but it also includes several occupations that are not artistic endeavors; (3) exclusion of .off the books. artists: because NES only counts artists who report their earning on their tax forms, not counted are artists not reporting their earnings to the IRS.

Description:

OES derive from a semiannual mail survey measuring wage rates and occupational employment totals for wage and salary workers in non-farm establishments in the United States. The Arts and Culture Indicators Project (ACIP) of the Urban Institute compiled OES data on employment and wages in 12 detailed arts-related occupations. The OES data use the Office of Management and Budget’s Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system, which includes 801 detailed occupations comprising 23 major occupational groups. ACIP identified 12 occupations relevant to arts and culture, within the major occupation group 27-0000 (Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations). The survey sample of 1.2 million establishments over six panels is drawn from state Unemployment Insurance files. The OES provides cross-industry data files.

PolicyMap used this data from the report Cultural Vitality in Communities: Interpretation and Indicators. This report introduces a definition of cultural vitality that includes the range of cultural activity people around the country find significant, then uses this definition understand and source the data necessary to document arts and culture in communities. The information captured by NES is part of an initial set of arts and culture indicators derived from nationally available data.

OES counts part-time and full-time employees. It may capture some of the part-time artistic work that is performed outside of an artist's "day job". OES has several limitations including (1) exclusion of self-employed workers: because OES exclusively surveys employers, self-employed artists are excluded from OES estimates; (2) missing data: some OES estimates are suppressed because they do not meet the BLS standards for statistical quality or protecting the privacy of individual employers; and (3) sampling error. The true count of artists could vary from the count derived from the sample.

Description:

The SSI program is a cash assistance program for low-income aged, blind, or disabled people. States have the option of supplementing their residents' SSI payments and may choose to have the additional payments administered by the federal government. When a state chooses federal administration, the Social Security Administration maintains the payment records and issues the federal payment and the state supplement in one check. SSI data in PolicyMap are for federal and federally administered state payments only. State-administered supplementary payments are not included.

The data come from the Supplemental Security Record, the principal administrative data file for the SSI program. To avoid disclosure of the reason for individuals' eligibility, data on eligibility categories are suppressed for counties with fewer than 15 recipients or where all recipients are in the same category. Therefore, county counts may not sum to reported state numbers. The amount of payments is not shown for counties with fewer than four recipients. These suppressed payment data are included in the state and national totals.

Description:

The Reinvestment Fund's Market Value Analyses (MVAs) are typologies of local real estate markets, designed to help governments and private investors target investment and prioritize action in ways that can leverage investment and revitalize neighborhoods.

To develop this analysis, TRF uses a statistical technique known as cluster analysis that helps to uncover patterns in data. Cluster analysis does this by forming groups of areas that are similar along a set of selected values that describe those areas. While the groups are formed to be as uniform as possible within, the groups are also as dissimilar as possible from one another. Using this technique, the MVA is able to reduce vast amounts of data on hundreds of thousands of properties and hundreds of areas down to a manageable, meaningful typology of market types that can inform area-appropriate programs and decisions regarding the allocation of resources. TRF uses many indicators in its analyses including various combinations of the following: average home sale price, percent change in average home sale price over time, percent owner occupancy, percent vacancy, percent vacant lots, percent of rental units that are Section 8, percent commercial, percent of properties with foreclosure, percent prime home purchase loans, number of new construction permits, number of Sheriff sales as a percent of owner occupied units, number of public housing units, percent of properties deemed dangerous, percent of structures demolished, percent of high risk or very high risk credit scores for predatory lending, and percent of housing units built before 1950.

Working with the MVA client, TRF forms geographic study areas for the cluster analysis. Although many of these study areas are displayed using similar color schemes, they can not be compared. Please consult the description relevant to the study area for a full description of each MVA.

MARYLAND

Baltimore, MD

In 2005 TRF developed a Market Value Analysis for the City of Baltimore Planning Department.

TRF cluster analysis revealed seven market types, characterized as follows:

• Competitive: high owner occupancy, high property values, and low abandonment.
• Emerging: fairly high homeownership rates, relatively low foreclosure rate, variety in housing type and greater number of commercial properties.
• Stable: slightly above average foreclosure rate, high homeownership rate, relatively new housing stock.
• Transitional: moderate average sales price, high homeownership rate, and very high foreclosure rate.
• Distressed: very high vacancy rate, very high percentage of vacant lots, low homeownership rate and lowest average sales price.

NEW JERSEY

Atlantic Highlands, NJ

In 2007 TRF developed a Market Value Analysis of the Atlantic Highlands for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

TRF cluster analysis revealed eight market types, characterized as follows:

• Dark Purple: highest average sales price, fairly high percent commercial, highest percent owner occupied.
• Light Purple: relatively high percent owner occupied and relatively low percent foreclosure.
• Dark Blue: fairly high average sales price, fairly low percent of rental that is Section 8.
• Light Blue: highest residential parcel change rate, relatively high percent owner occupied, highest percent of rental that is Section 8.
• Light Yellow: fairly high average sales price, very low percent owner occupied.
• Dark Yellow: very high residential parcel change rate, fairly low percent of rental that is Section 8.
• Light Orange: fairly low average sales price, fairly high percent foreclosure.
• Dark Orange: very low percent owner occupied, very high percent foreclosure.

Camden, NJ

In 2000 TRF developed a Market Value Analysis of Camden for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. TRF cluster analysis revealed six market types, as follows:

• High Value: highest average sales price at $116,864, very low vacancy rate, majority owner-occupied, and the lowest number of Section 8 certificates.
• Strong Value: high average sales price, high rate of homeownership, low number of Section 8 certificates, lowest number of demolition permits per capita, and lowest vacancy rate at 0.3%.
• Steady: highest rate of homeownership at 79%, highest number of alteration and addition permits per capita, lowest number of older homes, and average number of vacancies.
• Transitional: fairly low average residential sales price, above average owner-occupied.
• Distressed Public Market: highest number of Section 8 certificates and low average home sales price.
• Reclamation: highest number of older homes, lowest average sales price at $18,063, highest vacancy rate at 16.9%, lowest home ownership rate at 44.5%, and highest number of those with high or very high risk credit.

Meadowlands, NJ

In 2007 TRF developed a Market Value Analysis of the Meadowlands for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

TRF cluster analysis revealed five market types, characterized as follows:

• Purple: highest owner occupancy, lowest percent commercial, higher average sale price, highest percent of residential permits.
• Dark Blue: high owner occupancy, low percent commercial, slightly higher average sale price, foreclosures evident.
• Light Blue: average sales price, 52% owner occupied, evident vacant parcels.
• Light Yellow: low owner occupancy, highest percent commercial, average sales price, foreclosure activity.
• Dark Yellow: lowest owner occupancy, high percent commercial, lowest average sales price, lowest percent of residential permits.

Newark, NJ

In 2007 TRF developed a Market Value Analysis of Newark for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

TRF cluster analysis revealed eight market types, as follows:

• Dark Purple: no subsidized rental units and highest mean sales price.
• Medium Purple: lowest percent owner occupied at 16%, highest percent commercial land, and lowest percent sheriff sales.
• Light Purple: very low percent subsidized rental and relatively high mean residential sales price.
• Light Yellow: highest percent subsidized rental at 68%, highest percent of vacant parcels, and highest rate of new residential construction.
• Dark Yellow: low percent subsidized rental and high percent sheriff sales.
• Light Orange: very high percent subsidized rental, low mean residential sales price and very high percent vacant.
• Medium Orange: high percent owner occupied, lowest percent commercial land at 2%, no subsidized rental units, and high rate of sales price variation.
• Dark Orange: highest percent owner occupied, lowest mean residential sales price, and highest percent sheriff sales at 18%.

The Oranges, NJ

In 2007 TRF developed a Market Value Analysis of the Oranges for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

TRF cluster analysis revealed eight market types, characterized as follows:

• Dark Purple: highest owner occupancy, no subsidized rental housing, highest average sales price, lowest foreclosure rate, lowest percent commercial, highest rate of new residential permits.
• Light Purple: high owner occupancy, low percent commercial, no subsidized rental housing, low foreclosures.
• Dark Blue: high owner occupancy, relatively high home prices, relatively low foreclosure rate.
• Light Blue: average owner occupancy, low subsidized housing, average residential prices, relatively low foreclosure rate.
• Dark Yellow: Low owner occupancy, low average sales price, high foreclosure rate.
• Light Yellow: average owner occupancy, very high percent Section 8.
• Dark Orange: lowest owner occupancy, lowest average sales price, high foreclosure rate, high rate of subsidized housing high rate of vacancy.
• Light Orange: Highest rate of subsidized housing, highest rate of foreclosure, highest rate of vacancy.

Riverline, NJ

In 2007 TRF developed a Market Value Analysis of the Riverline (along the light rail line extending from Trenton to Camden) for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

TRF cluster analysis revealed five market types, characterized as follows:

• Purple: highest owner occupancy, lowest percent commercial, no Section 8 housing, highest average sales price, lowest foreclosure rate, greatest residential change.
• Blue: relatively low percent commercial mix, very low Section 8 rental housing, relatively strong average residential sales price, very low foreclosure rate and very low residential change.
• Dark Yellow: low average sales price, relatively high foreclosure rate, some commercial.
• Light Yellow: average percent commercial, average foreclosure rate, average sale prices.
• Orange: very low percent owner occupied, comparatively high percent commercial, very low average sales price, and very high foreclosure rate.

Vineland, NJ

In 2007 TRF developed a Market Value Analysis of the Vineland area (including Millville and Bridgeton) for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

TRF cluster analysis revealed six market types, characterized as follows:

• Purple: highest average sales price, high owner occupancy, and low presence of subsidized housing, lower vacancy.
• Blue: highest owner occupancy, slightly higher than average sale prices, lowest percent subsidized housing, lowest percent of foreclosures.
• Light Blue: below average sale prices, very high percentage of subsidized rental units, low rate of new residential construction.
• Yellow: below average sale prices, low owner occupancy, high level of commercial, high percent Section 8 rentals.
• Light Orange: lowest owner occupancy, highest percent commercial, highest percent of Section 8 rentals, and very high rate of new residential construction.
• Dark Orange: lowest average sales price at $33,930, lowest percent commercial, highest percent of foreclosures, highest percent of subsidized rental units.

Washington Township, NJ

In 2007 TRF developed a Market Value Analysis of the Washington Township area for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

TRF cluster analysis revealed seven market types, characterized as follows:

• Purple: highest owner occupancy, very low percent Section 8 rental, highest residential sales price, lowest foreclosure rate, highest rate of new residential construction.
• Dark Blue: very low owner occupancy, highest percent commercial, lowest percent Section 8 rental, and relatively high sale prices.
• Medium Blue: very high owner occupancy, lowest percent of subsidized rental, low foreclosure rate.
• Light Blue: average percent commercial, average foreclosure rate, lower than average sale prices.
• Light Yellow: low owner occupancy, high percent commercial, lower than average sale prices, very low rate of new residential construction.
• Yellow: highest percent of Section 8 rentals, very low mean residential sales price, and relatively high percent commercial.
• Orange: lowest owner occupancy, lowest average residential sales price, highest percent of foreclosures, lowest rate of new residential construction.

PENNSYLVANIA

Philadelphia, PA

2008^{coming soon}

Philadelphia, PA

In 2001, TRF developed a Market Value Analysis for the City of Philadelphia.

TRF cluster analysis revealed eight market types, characterized as follows:

• Regional Choice: highest home prices, mix of uses, older homes in excellent condition.
• High Value: high home prices, price appreciation, population stability and some growth, less commercial activity, high rate of homeownership.
• Steady: predominantly homeowners, home prices relatively high and stable, homes in good condition, few vacancies.
• Transitional (Up): relatively high and steady home prices and population shifts.
• Transitional (Steady): steady home prices, no robust appreciation, population shifts.
• Transitional (Down): population shifts, worn housing, dangerous properties, elevated vacancies.
• Distressed: lower home prices, physical decay, older homes, elevated vacancies, predominantly homeowners, much publicly assisted housing, substantial population loss.
• Reclamation: population loss, low property values, physical deterioration, hyper-abandonment, dangerous buildings.

WASHINGTON, DC

In 2006 TRF developed a Market Value Analysis for Washington, DC.

TRF cluster analysis revealed eight market types, characterized as follows:

• Dark purple: highest median sales price, lowest percent vacant and highest percent prime loans.
• Light purple: high percentage owner occupied and relatively high median sales price.
• Dark blue: highest percent owner occupied, lowest percent commercial, relatively low percent prime loans, highest percent of Section 8 housing at 19%.
• Medium blue: higher than average sale prices, and average rate of vacancy.
• Light blue: low percent owner occupied, highest percent commercial, average sale prices.
• Dark orange: very low percent owner occupied, highest percent vacant, below average median sales price.
• Light orange: lowest percent owner occupied, below average sale prices, high rate of vacancy
• Yellow: above average owner occupancy, lowest median sales price, lowest percent prime loans, high rate of vacancy.

Description:

TRF requested and received (via the Freedom of Information Act) the list of properties in the USDA Rural Development's Multifamily database in October 2007. TRF geocoded the properties listed in the USDA's Rural Development Multifamily database as of 11/1/2007. TRF was able to locate approximately 95% of these developments on a map.

Description:

Founded in 1971, CommonBond Communities is the largest nonprofit developer, manager and service provider for affordable homes in the Upper Midwest. The organization preserves, builds and manages apartments and town homes while providing technology-based services and resources for residents. CommonBond Communities manages properties throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. The organizational mission is to build community by creating affordable housing as a steppingstone to success. They live this mission by bringing community members and residents together in community-impacting ways. Their properties provide homes that serve people who often earn no more than 30-60 percent of Area Median Income. Qualified families, seniors and people with special needs live in CommonBond properties and are seen as assets to urban, suburban and rural cities where they reside.

The organization uses a comprehensive approach. CommonBond works with first-rate architects and utilizes quality builders and materials to ensure well-built, affordable housing that lasts. The experienced property management team makes certain that properties are well maintained and their housing is compliant with the complex rules and regulations that govern the industry. The CommonBond staff and volunteers support both residents and resident programs.

CommonBond's point of difference is their nationally recognized Advantage Center resident services. The Advantage Centers are technology-based, on-site resources that enable CommonBond to provide more than housing. The resident services staff often includes social workers, employment specialists or youth workers who provides individual services and programs that specifically address the needs of each resident. The Advantage Centers focuses on preventing homelessness, creating family stability, helping residents secure employment, fostering youth achievement and aiding seniors and people with special needs as they live independently as long as possible.

Learn more at
CommonBond Communities
328 Kellogg Blvd W
St Paul, MN 55102
651-291-1750 (main) | 651-291-1003 (fax)
Web: www.CommonBond.org

Description:

The Council of New Jersey Grantmakers (CNJG) is a 112 member organization serving the state's philanthropic sector through programs, services and special initiatives. Currently, the Council is engaged i