Population Surrounding 19,537 Brownfields Sites
That Received EPA Funding

(Population data is from the Census Bureau's 20011-2015 ACS 5 year estimates; sites are as of FY 2016.)

UPDATE: October 2017

Brownfields sites exist in thousands of communities across the U.S. ranging from remote to large urban settings.
Many of these sites are located in economically distressed communities. To help describe who benefits from
EPA's Brownfields Program, the Agency collected data on the population living within 3, 1, and >2 miles of
Brownfield sites that received EPA funding.

Population within 3 Miles of Sites:

The 3-mile area surrounding sites was used because it is a good representation of the geographic area where
people in a community live most of their lives - where they shop, work, go to school, go to restaurants, and
participate in outdoor activities. As of the end of FY16, approximately 129 million people live within 3 miles of a
Brownfields site that received EPA funding (roughly 40% of the U.S. population) including approximately:

•	41% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5

•	39% of all children in the U.S. under 18

•	55% of all black people in the U.S.

•	47% of all Hispanics in the U.S.

•	49% of all minorities in the U.S.

•	49% of all households in the U.S. below the poverty level

•	45% of all people with less than a high school education in the U.S.

•	53% of the linguistically isolated households in the U.S.

Population within 1 Mile of Sites:

As of the end of FY16, approximately 50 million people live within 1 mile of a Brownfields site that received EPA
funding (roughly 16% of the U.S. population) including approximately:

•	17% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5

•	15% of all children in the U.S. under 18

•	27% of all black people in the U.S.

•	19% of all Hispanics in the U.S.

•	21% of all minorities in the U.S.

•	24% of all households in the U.S. below the poverty level

•	20% of all people with less than a high school education in the U.S.

•	22% of the linguistically isolated households in the U.S.

Population within Vi Mile of Sites:

As of the end of FY16, approximately 24 million people live within 1/2 mile of a Brownfields site that received EPA
funding (roughly 7% of the U.S. population) including approximately:

•	8% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5

•	7% of all children in the U.S. under 18

•	14% of all black people in the U.S.

•	9% of all Hispanics in the U.S.

•	10% of all minorities in the U.S.

•	12% of all households in the U.S. below the poverty level

•	10% of all people with less than a high school education in the U.S.

•	11% of the linguistically isolated households in the U.S.





Brownfield

Sites that fcPKgvW*
Received EPA
Funding

OLEM/Office of Communications, Partnerships, and Analysis


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Demographics of Near-Site Population:

While there is no single way to characterize communities located near these sites, this population is more
minority, low income, linguistically isolated, and less likely to have a high school education than the U.S.
population as a whole (see Table 1). As a result, these communities may have fewer resources with which to
address concerns about their health and environment.

TABLE 1: Key Demographics of the Total Brownfields Near-Site Population
and the Total U.S. Population



Population within
% mile of All Sites

Population within
1 mile of All Sites

Population within
3 miles of All Sites

U.S.
Population

Minority

54.2%

52.3%

47.1%

38.4%

Below poverty level

23.7%

21.6%

17.7%

14.7%

Linguistically isolated

7.2%

7.2%

6.7%

5.2%

Less than a High
School Education

19.0%

17.9%

15.4%

13.5%

Methodology:

A circular site boundary, equal to the site acreage, was modeled around the latitude/longitude for each site and
then a 3 or 1 mile buffer ring was placed around the site boundary. American Community Survey (ACS) 2011-2015
census data was then identified for each block group with a centroid that fell within the 3 or 1 mile area.

Data collected includes: (1) Brownfields program site information as of FY2016; and (2) ACS 20011-2015 census
data. Site data from FY2016 included 19,537 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 (EJ) characteristics
of the population, this is not an EJ analysis.

•	Proximity to a site does not necessarily represent risk of adverse health effects. The risk of exposure to
contamination varies sign if ica ntly 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 block groups which under-estimates the population in some
cases, and over-estimates in others.

Footnote to Use When Citing Data:

1U.S. EPA, Office of Land and Emergency Management Estimate. 2017. Data collected includes: (1)
brownfields site information as of the end of FY2016; and (2) 20011-2015 American Community Survey
(ACS) census data. Sites used in this analysis included 19,537 brownfields sites in the 50 U.S. states and
Puerto Rico with accurate location data.

Brownfields - Page 2


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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 sites
that received EPA funding. The table indicates whether certain population demographics
near sites are above (in bold) or below (in italics) the U.S. average.

Demographics

Population Within
of Sites
(Approximate)

Population Within
| of Sites
(Approximate)

Population Within
S of Sites
(Approximate)

U.S. Population
(Approximate)

Race

















White

58.4%

13,854,356

60.6%

30,278,133

65.9%

84,707,974

73.6%

235,439,052

Black

24.2%

5,744,073

22.0%

11,002,484

17.3%

22,258,905

12.6%

40,209,614

Asian

5.3%

1,267,567

5.4%

2,719,576

6.0%

7,714,633

5.1%

16,245,464

Native American

0.8%

196,907

0.8%

399,021

0.8%

964,529

0.8%

2,580,945

Hawaiian/Pacific
islander

0.2%

43,611

0.2%

90,944

0.2%

252,572

0.2%

546,384

Other

11.0%

2,611,335

10.9%

5,466,080

9.9%

12,664,303

7.8%

25,076,635

Ethnicity

















Hispanic (any race)

22.0%

5,213,383

22.2%

11,096,927

21.1%

27,183,555

18.1%

57,779,493

Non-Hispanic (any
race)

78.0%

18,504,466

77.8%

38,859,311

78.9%

101,379,361

81.9%

262,318,601

Minority

















Minority (Includes all
race & ethnicity
categories except
"non-Hispanic white")

54.2%

12,852,010

52.3%

26,125,510

47.1%

60,573,632

38.4%

122,814,916

Income

















Households below the
poverty level

23.7%

2,167,300

21.6%

4,116,045

17.7%

8,575,062

14.7%

17,375,862
(Household)

Households with a
ratio of income to
poverty level of two
and over

51.2%

11,744,724

54.0%

26,106,891

60.4%

75,527,907

65.3%

203,830,131

Education

















Less than a high
school education

19.0%

2,930,754

17.9%

5,855,978

15.4%

13,138,777

13.5%

28,879,991

Linguistically isolated

















Linguistically isolated
households

7.2%

657,209

7.2%

1,363,957

6.7%

3,247,712

5.2%

6,151,790

Age

















Under 5 years of age

6.8%

1,602,359

6.7%

3,339,982

6.5%

8,337,577

6.3%

20,107,354

Under 18 years of age

22.7%

5,379,206

22.6%

11,288,275

22.6%

29,075,124

23.3%

74,487,716

Over 64 years of age

11.8%

2,798,582

12.3%

6,142,751

13.4%

17,205,644

14.1%

45,211,757

Total Population



23,717,849



49,956,238



L28,562,916



320,098,094

Brownfields - Page 3


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