Equity

People and communities are more likely to prosper when there is freedom from race, class, gender, or geographic discrimination. Our research provides data and tools to help communities direct resources to the people and places that can benefit the most.

Conservation leaders have a role in building equitable communities

How we manage population centers is intertwined with our conservation of wild areas. The more we create equitable population centers in places people want to live, the more we can create durable, landscape-scale conservation outcomes outside of towns.

Recent Equity Posts

A rural capacity map

A new map helps identify communities where investments in staffing and expertise are needed to support infrastructure and climate resilience projects. Read more
The American Community Survey in our data tools

Find the latest American Community Survey data in all of our tools, including the Economic Profile System and Neighborhoods at Risk. Read more
Conservation leaders have a role in building equitable communities

How we manage population centers is intertwined with our conservation of wild areas. The more we create equitable population centers in places people want to live, the more we can create durable, landscape-scale conservation outcomes outside of towns. Read more
Latinos face higher flood risks than other groups

Headwaters Economics and the Hispanic Access Foundation have released a report that shows that 44% of Latinos live in counties with high flood risk, as opposed to 35% of non-Latinos. Read more
Los latinos enfrentan mayores riesgos de inundaciones que otros grupos

Headwaters Economics y Hispanic Access Foundation han publicado un reporte que muestra que el 44% de los latinos viven en condados con un alto riesgo de inundaciones, en contraste con el 35% de los no latinos. Read more
The unequal impacts of flooding

Headwaters Economics has conducted an analysis of flood and socioeconomic data to illustrate where flood risks disproportionality affect vulnerable populations. Read more
Analysis of the first round of Community Wildfire Defense Grants

An independent analysis by Headwaters Economics shows that the first round of funding from the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program prioritized high-risk, low-income communities. Read more
Match requirements prevent rural and low-capacity communities from accessing climate resilience funding

Many federal grant programs require communities to provide a local match, creating barriers for rural and underserved places. Read more
A decline in accuracy of equity-related measures in the 2020 American Community Survey

Due to new methods and pandemic disruption, the 2020 American Community Survey shows some decrease in accuracy for equity-related measures. Read more
Yellowstone Flood reveals Montana’s mobile home flood risk

Montana’s mobile home residents face disproportionate flood risk and traditional solutions leave them behind. Read more
Capacity-limited states still struggle to access FEMA BRIC grants

Places with lower capacity are failing to get funding through FEMA’s flagship grant program, Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC). Read more
Mobile home residents face higher flood risk

Mobile homes are the most common unsubsidized, affordable housing in the United States but have disproportionately higher flood risk than other housing types. Read more
Improving benefit-cost analyses for rural areas

Benefit-cost analysis, required for many federal funding sources, puts smaller, rural, and low-income communities at a disadvantage. Read more
Housing costs broke records across the U.S.

Unaffordable housing came to a head during the pandemic as communities across the country saw unprecedented rises in housing costs. Read more
Unaffordability for renters made worse during the pandemic

The unprecedented rise in housing prices since 2020 has affected renters more than homeowners—especially in places that were already unaffordable. Read more
The unequal impacts of wildfire

See where wildfire risk intersects social and economic factors that can make it difficult for people to prepare for, respond to, and recover from wildfire. Read more
Mountain, Midwest, and Gulf States fail to secure FEMA resilience funding

Rural and lower capacity communities failed to successfully compete for FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) funding in FY 2020. Read more
Wildfire Risk Report for every U.S. community

A new report in our Economic Profile System provides community-level data about wildfire hazard and potentially vulnerable populations. Read more
Census response rates in communities of color

People of color are at a high risk of being undercounted in the 2020 Census, jeopardizing federal funding, social services, and government representation. Read more
Census response rates in Asian Communities

Asian communities are at a high risk of being undercounted in the 2020 Census, jeopardizing federal funding, social services, and government representation. Read more

See all posts under Equity