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Environmental Justice Populations in Massachusetts

Environmental Justice (EJ) Population Data is derived from the 2019 American Community Survey based upon demographic criteria developed by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
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What is an Environmental Justice Population?

In Massachusetts, a neighborhood is defined as an Environmental Justice population if one or more of the following four criteria are true:

  1. the annual median household income is not more than 65 per cent of the statewide annual median household income;
  2. minorities comprise 40 per cent or more of the population;
  3. 25 per cent or more of households lack English language proficiency; or
  4. minorities comprise 25 per cent or more of the population and the annual median household income of the municipality in which the neighborhood is located does not exceed 150 per cent of the statewide annual median household income.

EJ Populations in Massachusetts

List of Massachusetts Cities & Towns with Environmental Justice Populations
This list summarizes EJ criteria (E=English Isolation, I=Income and M=Minority) and block group by town.

Additional Resources

Learn about the data that make up the 2020 Environmental Justice GIS Data Layer

Interactive Map

The Environmental Justice Map Viewer is an interactive map that displays the 2020 EJ block groups, based upon three demographic criteria developed by the state's Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA).

Languages Spoken

Languages Spoken
This map shows census tracts where at least 5% of the population has speakers who self-identify as "do not speak English very well". Block groups classified as EJ under the EJ policy with the English language isolation criteria can also be displayed. Click on a tract (in pink) to find which languages are spoken.

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