Updated: July 2022 Population Surrounding 32,366 Brownfields Sites Brownfields sites exist in thousands of communities across the U.S. ranging from remote to iarge urban settings. Many of these sites are in economically distressed communities. To help describe who benefits from EPA's Brownfields Program, the Agency used 2016-2020 American Community Survey populations data and FY 2021 Brownfields to summarize the population living within 3, 1, and 34 miles of Brownfield sites that received EPA funding. Population within % Mile of Sites: Approximately 34 million people live within Zi mile of a Brownfields site (roughly 10% of the U.S. population) including approximately: • 10% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5 • 10% of all children in the U.S. under 18 • 17% of all blacks in the U.S. • 12% of all Hispanics in the U.S. • 13% of all minorities in the U.S. • 17% of all households in the U.S. below the poverty level • 14% of all people with less than a high school education in the U.S. • 15% of the linguistically isolated people in the U. Population within 1 Mile of Sites: Approximately 68 million people live within 1 mile of a Brownfields site (roughly 19% of the U.S. population) including approximately: • 21% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5 • 20% of all children in the U.S. under 18 • 32% of all blacks in the U.S. • 25% of all Hispanics in the U.S. • 26% of all minorities in the U.S. • 31% of all households in the U.S. below the poverty level • 27% of all people with less than a high school education in the U.S. • 29% of the linguistically isolated people in the U.S. Population within 3 Miles of Sites: Approximately 155 million people live within 3 miles of a Brownfields site (roughly 47% of the U.S. population) including approximately: • 48% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5 • 46% of all children in the U.S. under 18 • 60% of all blacks in the U.S. • 54% of all Hispanics in the U.S. • 56% of all minorities in the U.S. • 56% of all households in the U.S. below the poverty level • 53% of all people with less than a high school education in the U.S. • 60% of the linguistically isolated people in the U.S. OLEM/Office of Communications, Partnerships, and Analysis ------- Demographics of Near-Site Populations: While there is no single way to characterize communities located near our sites, this population is more minority, low income, linguistically isolatedand less likely to have a high school education than the U.S. population as a whole. TABLE 1: Proportions of Key Demographics in the Total Near Site Population and the Total U.S. Population Population within of All Sites Population within of All Sites Population within of All Sites U.S. Population Minority 53.2% 52.1% 47.8% 40.5% Below poverty level 20.2% 18.4% 15.0% 12.8% Linguistically isolated 6.7% 6.6% 6.1% 4.9% Less than a High School Education 16.1% 15.3% 13.1% 11.6% Methodology: A circular site boundary, equal to the site acreage, was modeled around the latitude/longitude for each site and then a 3-, 1- or Vz- mile buffer ring was placed around the site boundary. American Community Survey 2016-2020 population data was then identified for each block with a centroid that fell within the 3-, 1- or Vz- mile area. Population characteristic data was not available for census blocks but was available for block groups. To calculate the block population characteristics, the population percentage of the block within the block group was calculated and then that weight was applied to the respective block group characteristic of interest to estimate a value for the block. Data used includes: (1) Brownfields site information from ACRES as of the end of FY2021; and (2) American Community Survey 2016-2020 population data. Site data from FY2021 included 32,366 brownfields sites in the 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico with accurate locational data. IMPORTANT Caveats: • Data collected represent a national look at the characteristics of the population in communities surrounding our sites. While some of the data point to possible environmental justice related characteristics of the population, this is not a full environmental justice analysis. • Proximity to a site does not necessarily represent risk of adverse health effects. The risk of exposure to contamination varies significantly across all sites. • Data are a snapshot in time only, the site and population information will change over time (can be updated every year when new census data comes out and compared over time in 5-year intervals). • Used best available information, but data collected are estimates only, for the following reasons: ~~~ Used a single latitude/longitude location to model site boundaries based on acreage, not the actual site boundaries. ~~~ Used centroid points of the census blocks to determine inclusion in the estimates. This may under-estimate the population in some cases, and over-estimate in others. Footnote to Use When Citing Data: U.S. EPA, Office of Land and Emergency Management 2022. Data collected includes: (1) Brownfields site information from ACRES as of the end of FY2021; and (2) population data from the 2016-2020 American Community Survey. page 2 ------- TABLE 2: Detailed Data on the Population within 1 and 3 miles of Brownfields sites Below are data on the demographic characteristics of the population surrounding Brownfields. The table indicates whether certain population demographics near sites are above (in bold) or below (in italics) the U.S. average. Demographics Population Within Population Within Population Within H Of Sites (Approximate) US Population (Approximate) K Mil Of Sites 1 Mil Of Sites (Approximate) (Approximate) Race Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number White 58.0% 19,440,761 59.4% 40,190,861 63.9% 99,304,620 70.3% 231,911,672 Black 21.2% 7,096,448 19.8% 13,413,092 16.2% 25,101,577 12.6% 41,594,421 Asian 5.4% 1,817,367 5.7% 3,825,069 6.4% 9,897,393 5.6% 18,427,458 Native American 1.1% 362,491 1.0% 658,678 0.8% 1,305,919 0.8% 2,694,287 Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0.2% 70,581 0.2% 146,890 0.2% 338,044 0.2% 611,659 Other 14.1% 4,719,939 13.9% 9,369,968 12.5% 19,443,068 10.5% 34,582,476 Ethnicity Hispanic (any race) 23.0% 7,720,891 23.2% 15,680,224 21.8% 33,887,338 19.0% 62,572,901 Non-Hispanic (any race) 77.0% 25,786,696 76.8% 51,924,333 78.2% 121,503,282 81.0% 267,249,072 Minority Minority 53.2% 17,831,379 52.1% 35,244,544 47.8% 74,203,716 40.5% 133,540,124 Income Households below the poverty level 20.2% 2,671,376 18.4% 4,845,398 15.0% 8,948,600 12.8% 15,847,868 Households with a ratio of income to poverty level of two and over 57.5% 18,621,185 60.2% 39,373,571 65.9% 99,674,315 69.8% 224,565,653 Education Less than a high school education 16.1% 3,627,436 15.3% 6,945,656 13.1% 13,844,968 11.6% 26,086,480 Linguistically isolated Linguistically isolated households 6.7% 887,279 6.6% 1,740,507 6.1% 3,634,178 4.9% 6,020,469 Age Under 5 years of age 6.2% 2,067,803 6.2% 4,168,397 6.1% 9,469,189 6.0% 19,781,156 Under 18 years of age 21.5% 7,198,035 21.6% 14,608,984 21.8% 33,885,850 22.4% 73,907,865 Over 64 years of age 13.8% 4,631,939 14.3% 9,650,833 15.3% 23,712,008 16.1% 53,029,913 Total page 3 ------- |