Increasing research and policy attention is being given to how
the socioeconomic environment influences health. This article
discusses potential indicators or metrics regarding the
socioeconomic environment that could play a role in an
incentive-based system for population health.  Given the state
of the research regarding the influence of socioeconomic
contextual variables on health outcomes, the state of data and
metrics for these variables at the local level, and the
potential for program and policy intervention, the authors
recommend a set of metrics related to the socioeconomic
composition of a community (including poverty, unemployment, and
public assistance rates); educational attainment and
achievement; racial segregation; and social-capital indicators
such as density of voluntary organizations and voter turnout.
These indicators reflect the evidence that population health
gains depend on improvements in many of the fundamental social
determinants of health, including meaningful employment, income
sec