There is abundant evidence of persistent differences in cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality by socioeconomic status (SES). The determinants of SES-related differences in CVD outcomes and risk factors have not been fully established. Previous work in this area has focused predominantly on individual-level SES indicators, but recently attention has shifted to the role of neighborhood or community-level variables in shaping health outcomes, independently of individual-level SES. Several epidemiologic studies have suggested that neighborhood characteristics may influence the distribution of disease risk, but the role of both neighborhood-level and individual level SES variables in shaping individual-level outcomes and risk factors has been rarely addressed in epidemiologic studies of CVD.