Sample characteristics of zip codes, by number of FDA compliance inspections in 2017 (129 911 inspections clustered in n=26 131 zip codes)
| Zip codes with various levels of compliance inspections in 2017* | ||||||
| Number of inspections | 0 | 1 | 2–3 | 4–9 | 10+ | Total |
| Number of zip codes | 11 572 | 2874 | 3516 | 4009 | 4160 | 26 131 |
| % of total | 44.3 | 11.0 | 13.5 | 15.3 | 15.9 | 100.0 |
| Zip code-level characteristics | ||||||
| FDA inspections and violations | ||||||
| Number of inspections, 2017 (mean)† | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 6.0 | 22.8 | 5.0 |
| Number of violations, 2017 (mean)† | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 3.3 | 0.7 |
| Number of penalties, 2017 (mean)† | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.2 |
| Number of tobacco retailers (mean)‡ | 9.0 | 7.6 | 9.3 | 15.7 | 32.7 | 13.7 |
| Metropolitan (%)§ | 47.6 | 44.7 | 48.2 | 59.9 | 73.9 | 53.5 |
| Zip code-level demographics | ||||||
| Population (mean)¶ | 8792 | 6999 | 8206 | 13 661 | 26 731 | 12 200 |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||
| Caucasian (%)¶ | 75.0 | 82.9 | 81.7 | 76.4 | 67.2 | 75.7 |
| African American (%)¶ | 6.9 | 7.0 | 7.4 | 9.6 | 13.7 | 8.5 |
| Hispanic (%)¶ | 11.3 | 5.8 | 6.4 | 8.7 | 12.6 | 9.8 |
| Asian (%)¶ | 2.4 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 2.4 |
| American Indian (%)¶ | 2.2 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 1.4 |
| Age (years) | ||||||
| 10–17 (%)¶ | 10.3 | 10.4 | 10.4 | 10.4 | 10.1 | 10.3 |
| 18–20 (%)¶ | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 3.8 |
| 21–24 (%)¶ | 4.8 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 5.8 | 4.9 |
| Education and income | ||||||
| Bachelor’s degree or higher (%)¶ | 18.7 | 18.5 | 19.1 | 21.9 | 23.5 | 20.0 |
| Poverty (%)¶ | 14.9 | 14.2 | 13.7 | 14.4 | 16.1 | 14.8 |
| County-level characteristics | ||||||
| Adult smoking prevalence (%) | 16.6 | 17.6 | 17.3 | 17.0 | 16.6 | 16.9 |
| Zip code-level Tobacco 21 policies** | ||||||
| No (%) | 86.6 | 95.8 | 95.9 | 95.0 | 91.5 | 90.9 |
| Local Tobacco 21 (%) | 2.8 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 5.9 | 3.3 |
| State Tobacco 21 (%) | 10.6 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 2.6 | 5.8 |
| State-level Tobacco Control policies | ||||||
| Cigarette tax** (mean) | $1.4 | $1.7 | $1.7 | $1.7 | $1.7 | $1.6 |
| Tobacco retail licensing** | ||||||
| E-cigarettes or other tobacco (%) | 10.5 | 22.1 | 23.7 | 20.6 | 19.2 | 16.5 |
| Tobacco other than e-cigarettes (%) | 63.6 | 57.3 | 55.7 | 56.6 | 57.5 | 59.8 |
| No license required (%) | 25.9 | 20.6 | 20.6 | 22.8 | 23.3 | 23.7 |
*Zip codes are divided into five groups based on the number of tobacco retail inspections involving minors.
†2017 data with inspections involving minors from FDA tobacco retail database were averaged at the zip code level.
‡Tobacco retail data obtained from ReferenceUSA and averaged at the zip code level for all businesses that likely sold tobacco products as of December 2016 using North American Industry Classification System codes, such as 445 110 (supermarkets and grocery stores), 445 120 (convenience stores or food marts), 445 310 (beer, wine and liquor stores), 446 110 (pharmacy and drug stores), 447 110 (gasoline stations with convenience stores), 447 190 (other gasoline stations), 452 990 (discount stores and general stores), 452 910 (warehouse clubs and superstores) and 453 991 (tobacco stores). We further excluded national chain retailers that do not sell tobacco products (eg, Target, CVS, Whole Foods, Dollar Tree) and removed duplicate records.
§Each zip code was coded as 1 for metropolitan or 0 for non-metropolitan (ie, micropolitan, small town and rural) using the Rural–Urban Commuting Area codes.
¶Zip code-level demographic information was obtained from the American Community Survey, 2014–2018.
**As of December 2016.
FDA, Food and Drug Administration.