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 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.
Initially adopted under the Climate Act, the disadvantaged communities criteria is required to be reviewed annually. On February 11, 2025, the CJWG voted to update the DAC Criteria to Version 2.0. These changes include updating the indicators to use the most recent data available, updating the maps to be based on the 2020 U.S. Census, and a change in how the Proximity to Landfills indicator is measured. The map on this page represents the updated Version 2.0 of the DAC Criteria. The DAC Criteria Version 1.0 is available at the Open Data NY Site.
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 identified 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