Seventy percent of Superfund sites are within a mile of federally assisted housing. Such proximity to environmental harms has cascading effects on people’s well-being, further exacerbating the burdens of poverty. Majority of counties with the most affordable housing and best air quality are located in a corridor of the Great Plains and upper Rockies, whereas most of the unaffordable and polluted counties are concentrated along the West Coast and throughout the Southeast and East Coast. Policymakers looking to expand affordable housing stock while advancing environmental justice goals can engage community members in decisionmaking, take holistic approach to neighborhood investment, and invest in antidiplacement policies.

This summary was updated on August 5, 2024. The unit of analysis of the affordable housing metric is referred to as “supply,” because this measures the number of affordable housing units per 100 very low-income households. A previous version referred to this unit as a “share.”