Your County's Health Report Card Is Online

Data source: ZipCheckup analysis of CDC environmental health data, EPA SDWIS, Census housing data

The CDC maintains a database that scores your ZIP code on environmental health risks — lead exposure in children, housing hazards, water contamination, and air quality. It covers 39,040 ZIP codes. The data is free and public. And yet, in our analysis of site traffic patterns, fewer than 3% of Americans have ever checked their local health profile.

Here's what the data shows.

The Children's Environmental Health Score

ZipCheckup combines CDC health tracking data, EPA water quality records, and Census housing data into a single children's environmental health score for each ZIP code. The score ranges from 0 (minimal risk) to 100 (extreme risk) and incorporates four factors:

1. Water lead risk — EPA sampling data and lead service line estimates
2. Air toxics exposure — proximity to TRI facilities and industrial emissions
3. Housing lead paint risk — percentage of housing stock built before 1978
4. Water quality violations — active and historical EPA Safe Drinking Water Act violations

The results are sobering. Across all 39,040 ZIP codes with data:

• 1,847 ZIP codes score as "very high" risk (score 80+)
• 15,231 ZIP codes score as "high" risk (score 60-79)
• The national average score is 61 — solidly in the "high" category

That means the typical American ZIP code has a children's environmental health score that qualifies as elevated risk.

The Housing Age Connection

The single strongest predictor of a ZIP code's health score isn't water quality or air quality — it's when the houses were built.

The 1978 threshold matters because that's when the federal government banned lead-based paint. The 1986 threshold matters because that's when lead solder was banned in plumbing. ZIP codes with large percentages of pre-1978 housing carry a double burden: lead paint on walls and lead in pipes.

Our data shows the pattern clearly:

• ZIP codes where 50%+ of homes predate 1978 have an average health score of 78 (high risk)
• ZIP codes where most homes were built after 1990 average 42 (moderate risk)

The difference is nearly double — and it's driven almost entirely by the age of the building stock, not by income, geography, or climate.

Where the Risks Concentrate

The geographic pattern follows America's industrial and settlement history:

Northeast Corridor

New York City's older boroughs — particularly the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Upper Manhattan — show some of the highest children's environmental health scores in the country. ZIP 10006 (Lower Manhattan) scores 81 on our index, driven by a housing lead paint risk score of 96. These neighborhoods were built decades before anyone understood lead toxicity.

Rust Belt

Cities like Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo — with housing stock dating to the early 1900s — score consistently in the "high" to "very high" range. The combination of aging water infrastructure, lead paint in older homes, and proximity to legacy industrial sites creates a triple burden.

Southern Industrial Corridors

Parts of Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama show elevated scores driven by different factors: not housing age, but proximity to petrochemical facilities and refineries. The health risk comes from air and water exposure rather than lead paint.

The Surprising Correlations

When we cross-referenced health scores with water quality data, two patterns stood out:

1. Lead in Water Amplifies Lead in Paint

ZIP codes with both high housing lead paint risk and elevated water lead levels score dramatically worse than those with just one risk factor. In these double-exposure ZIPs, the combined score averages 84 — deep into the "very high" range.

This matters because lead exposure is cumulative. A child living in a pre-1978 home with lead paint is already at risk. If the water supply also contains lead — even at levels below the EPA action limit of 15 ppb — the total body burden increases.

2. Water Violations Track Health Outcomes

ZIP codes with active EPA water quality violations score, on average, 11 points higher on the health risk index than those without violations. This isn't surprising — violations indicate problems — but the magnitude of the effect is notable. A single active violation correlates with roughly the same health score increase as 20 years of additional housing age.

What Your ZIP Code's Score Means

The score isn't a diagnosis — it's a risk indicator. A high score means your ZIP code has environmental conditions associated with increased health risks, particularly for children, pregnant women, and elderly residents. It doesn't mean everyone in that ZIP code is affected.

But it does mean the conditions exist for exposure, and that targeted precautions make sense:

• Score 0-30 (Low): Environmental conditions are favorable. Standard precautions sufficient.
• Score 31-59 (Moderate): Some risk factors present. Consider water testing if home predates 1986.
• Score 60-79 (High): Elevated risk. Water testing recommended. Check for lead paint if home predates 1978.
• Score 80-100 (Very High): Multiple risk factors active. Water filtration, lead paint inspection, and pediatric blood lead testing all recommended.

Requesting your CCR is the practical first step — but expect friction: across the 5,572 public utilities tracked in the CCR Rich Dataset, only 27.9% publish a website in their CCR and 51.2% disclose a customer-service phone, so accessing the report often requires going through your state drinking-water program.

Check Your ZIP Code

Every ZIP code on ZipCheckup includes the full health profile. Your report shows:

• Children's environmental health score and national/state percentile
• Water lead risk from EPA sampling data
• Housing vintage breakdown — what percentage of homes predate key safety thresholds
• Water violation history with specific contaminants and dates
• Recommendations tailored to your ZIP's risk profile

The data exists. The CDC collects it. The EPA reports it. The Census maps it. We just connected it to your address.

Check your ZIP code now →

Methodology: Children's environmental health scores combine data from CDC Childhood Blood Lead Surveillance, EPA SDWIS violation records, Census ACS housing vintage data (year structure built), and EPA Toxic Release Inventory. Scores are calculated per-ZIP using a weighted composite of water lead risk, air toxics exposure, housing lead paint probability, and water quality violation history. Housing vintage thresholds follow federal lead paint (1978) and lead solder (1986) ban dates. Coverage: 39,040 ZIP codes with sufficient data across at least 2 of 4 input factors.