CDFI Market Map

User Guide & Data Descriptions

Introduction

This page is designed to orient new users to the CDFI Market Map by describing its purpose, defining featured data, and demonstrating the Map's capabilities. Once you get the hang of the Map's functionality using the information below, we encourage you to visit the CDFI Market Map for optimal performance.

The CDFI Market Map makes it easy to see the market potential for CDFIs throughout the U.S. It is a tool for CDFIs, Mayors and local officials, bankers, bank regulators, philanthropists, and impact investors. With CDFI Deserts, we are introducing the first data indicator showing where CDFIs are and are not lending nationwide. There are 1,292 CDFI “Deserts” in the U.S.–cities and towns with populations more than 10,000 where the need for CDFI financing is high but historical CDFI financing is low.

CDFI Deserts are places where:

  1. CDFI lending from 2005-2022 totals less than 80% of the national average of $714 per person (80% = $571 per person), AND

  2. More than 50% of census tracts are economically distressed based on the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund’s Qualified Investment Area indicator.

View Map Instructions

Here are a few tips for using the CDFI Market Map:

  • Open the legend by clicking the icon.
  • You can search for any geography by clicking the icon.
  • For higher-density cities, be sure to zoom in using the + and - buttons to see tract-level details more clearly.
  • Click on a specific geographic area (state, county, tract, city) to view its data in a popup window. Note that there will likely be more than one geographic area included in the popup.
  • To show or hide specific layers, click on the icon to expand the layer groups, hover your cursor over the desired layer, and click the image that looks like an eye.
  • When zooming in to the local level, it is helpful to change the basemap to include navigation features (e.g., highways, streets, and parks). To do this, click on the and select Navigation or OpenStreetMap. If you want aerial imagery, select Imagery or Imagery Hybrid.
  • You can return to the original zoom extent (full United States view) by clicking on the icon.
View Data Sources

CDFI Market Map Data Sources/Citations

Using the CDFI Market Map

The Map shows CDFI Deserts at the state, metropolitan/micropolitan area, county, place (city/town), and census tract level views, giving users flexibility in how they approach markets. Some larger areas not classified as CDFI Deserts contain pockets of high need at the census tract level, which is why we include census tract-level indicators in our data assessments and mapping tools. Click the icon to view the legend.

While the default view shows the 48 contiguous U.S. states and Puerto Rico, users can pan, zoom, or search to see Alaska and Hawaii. The Map's layers change when you zoom in from the "National & Regional" views to the "Regional & Local" and "Local & Community (Tracts)" views.

For example, the interactive map view here starts with a national view of CDFI Deserts at the census place, county, metro/micro area, and state levels. It also shows the headquarters locations of roughly 1,400 certified CDFIs (identified by triangles). If you zoom in two levels, the layers are modified to allow you to view tract-level CDFI Deserts which lie within cities/towns, counties, metro/micro areas, and states.

States & Micro/Metro Areas

Zooming in one level from the full U.S. view above, you can see the navy blue dashed outlines indicating the metro/micro areas that qualify as CDFI Deserts. In this view, you can also more clearly see the dispersion of CDFI headquarters across various states.

You can also pan and zoom into, or search for, a particular state to see where the CDFI Deserts are in relation to its counties and major cities.

City & Tract-Level Views

Zooming in to a city or county reveals the demographic data. You can see the percentage of the population that is BIPOC at the tract level, as well as the percentage of the population that is Black or African American. The Map here shows a detailed zoom of Tulsa, Oklahoma, which is a CDFI Desert and recently became a CDFI Friendly community.

The Map shows that Tulsa has a large number of tracts qualifying as CDFI Deserts. We can use tract demographic layers to see that most of Tulsa's CDFI Desert tracts have a large BIPOC population, and some are primarily comprised of Black residents.

Here's how this works: tracts with one dark orange ring are those where most or all of the BIPOC population is Black and the larger the ring, the higher the share of the population. Meanwhile, tracts showing blue rings notably larger than their orange rings are those where other populations of color make up a larger share of the BIPOC population.

As an example, on the west side of North Tulsa (within the brown city boundary), you can see a cluster of CDFI Desert tracts with large dark orange rings, meaning more than 50% of the population is BIPOC, and more than 50% of the population is Black; thus, there are few other populations of color in those tracts. Meanwhile, in the eastern part of North Tulsa, there is a cluster of CDFI Desert tracts with large blue rings and small(er) orange rings, which means the demographics are more diverse, yet still more than 50% BIPOC.

Justice40 & Data Pop-Up

In the city or tract zoom level, you can see the tracts that meet the Justice40 qualifications. Justice40 tracts are key to the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, as they indicate areas where CDFIs and other GGRF awardees largely intend to focus their work. In the map of Philadelphia here, you can see the Justice40 tracts outlined in green, heavily concentrated in North and West Philadelphia. Note that Justice40 tracts are identified using 2010 census tract boundaries, while all other tract data conforms with 2020 census tract boundaries.

Users can click on any portion of the map to view data associated with the selected geographies through a popup window. Note that there will likely be more than one area included - you can toggle through each area's data by clicking the arrows in the upper left corner of the popup window. For example, if you click on a tract you'll be able to view data for the selected tract as well as the surrounding city/town, county, metro/micro area, and state.