Essential work, unequal places: Neighborhood characteristics of the essential workforce in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 55 million U.S. workers continued providing "essential" services crucial to public health, safety, and economic stability, even as large segments of the workforce sheltered at home. Despite the central role these workers played in safeguarding the economy and the greater American public, little is known about the neighborhood environments in which essential workers lived and how well these communities were equipped to support the health and well-being of essential workers during the pandemic. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to describe the social and physical characteristics of U.S. neighborhoods with varying concentrations of essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.