Disadvantaged Communities
New York State is undertaking the most ambitious effort in the U.S. to meet the challenge of climate change. New York’s Climate Act recognizes that climate change doesn’t affect all communities equally. The Climate Act charged the Climate Justice Working Group (CJWG) 
with the development of criteria to identify disadvantaged communities to ensure that frontline and otherwise underserved communities benefit from the state’s historic transition to cleaner, greener sources of energy, reduced pollution and cleaner air, and economic opportunities.
The CJWG finalized the disadvantaged communities criteria on March 27, 2023. Communities meeting the criteria can be identified with the map below and a list of census tracts that meet the disadvantaged community criteria can be found here [PDF] . Additional detail on the disadvantaged communities criteria can be found on the Climate Act Website under the "Disadvantaged Communities Criteria Documents" section.
The interactive map below identifies areas throughout the State that meet the disadvantaged community criteria as defined by the CJWG. Use the map to determine if an address is located in a disadvantaged community. You can either:
- Enter an address in the search address box
- Zoom in/out to identify portions of counties, cities, town and neighborhoods