The air we breathe, the water we drink, the toxins we are exposed to, and the disasters we experience affect our overall health and well-being—and, in turn, our educational and financial outcomes. Living in a healthy environment helps people succeed in school, provide for their families, and participate in their communities.

A large body of research shows this intrinsic interconnectedness (PDF) makes environmental quality a key driver of upward economic mobility. For example, data show that in the United States:

• People with lower incomes experience higher-than-average air pollution exposure.
• Industry, highways, and toxic waste sites have been disproportionately located in low-income communities, leaving their populations more exposed to pollutants. This may be why students from families with lower incomes experience higher rates of asthma.
• Prenatal pollution exposure to poor air quality is linked to negative health and developmental outcomes.
• Poverty- and air pollution–related stress can affect cognitive function and is associated with an increase in violence.
• Exposure to wildfire smoke reduces test scores, and schools with better indoor air quality boast higher standardized test scores.
• In the longer term, early childhood exposure to wildfire smoke and air pollution is linked to lower labor force participation and future earnings—which leaves children more likely to face additional environmental hazards as adults.

Leaders seeking to advance upward mobility in their communities can’t overlook the influence of environmental quality. To make improvements, they must first be able to measure environmental quality. Then, public, private, and philanthropic leaders can invest in local grassroots organizations already effectively working with community members to drive their efforts. 

How to measure local environmental quality

The Urban Institute’s Upward Mobility Initiative provides an evidence-based framework  for advancing upward mobility in local communities and uses environmental quality as 1 of 24 key predictors. Based on a series of criteria, the selected mobility metric to measure environmental quality is air quality—specifically exposure to air toxins harmful to human health. The higher the value, on a scale from 0 to 100, the lower the exposure to harmful air toxins. The county-level Mobility Metrics for 2018 show just how interconnected environmental quality is with financial resources, health, and employment:

• The better the air quality, the lower the share of adults with debt in collections: There is a strong negative correlation (–0.41) between air quality and the share of the population with debt in collections.
• The better the air quality, the lower the share of low-birth-weight infants: There is a strong negative correlation (–0.54) between air quality and low birth weights among infants.
• The better the air quality, the higher the share of adults employed: There is a positive correlation (0.32) between air quality and adults employed (ages 25 to 54).

These findings suggest communities with more financial insecurity face more environmental hazards, which may, in turn, negatively affect their health and employment prospects. Addressing environmental quality can help disrupt this cycle of poor environmental quality, poor health, and financial insecurity.

Local strategies to improve environmental quality can reduce barriers to upward mobility

In the United States, air quality is strikingly poor on the West Coast, where wildfires cause air pollution, and pollution from agricultural production and truck traffic gets trapped in the Central Valley west of the Sierra Nevada. Air quality in the Southeast is also notably poor, especially in cities like Atlanta, where motor vehicle emissions and emissions from industrial plants create smog during hot weather. 

Air Quality for US Counties, 2019

To address environmental quality challenges across the country, local leaders, funders, investors, and residents can take the following steps.

1. Measure environmental quality 
   Understanding exposures to poor air quality, poor water quality, toxins, disasters, or other hazards is the first step to addressing environmental vulnerabilities. Data sources such as the Upward Mobility Dashboard and EJScreen (re-created by the Public Environmental Data Partners because the Trump administration deleted it) are useful starting points that can be enhanced by existing local data and new local data collection efforts.
2. Connect with grassroots groups already organizing around solutions 
   Many grassroots organizations are already organizing to improve environmental quality. For example, in 2022, RISE St. James, a faith-based organization, organized to prevent a massive petrochemical plant from being built in their Gulf Coast community—Welcome, Louisiana—which would have allegedly released cancer-causing air pollutants (though the battle over permits continues). In some places, community members have formed cooperatives to advance community-owned solar projects, such as the Green Energy Justice Cooperative, which promise to improve air quality and reduce energy cost burdens. And in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, DC, Building Bridges Across the River is organizing to build the 11th Street Bridge Park to equitably improve river health, bolster community connectivity, and create economic opportunities. 
   
   Connecting with these organizations to see what support they may need to organize effectively is a second step to addressing environmental hazards. Local organizing around environmental quality creates opportunities for positive social interactions, which in turn builds social capital—another documented contributor to upward mobility. For example, higher social capital in communities has been associated with lower industrial air pollution.
3. Explore receptiveness to community-wide interventions 
   Community preferences for interventions will vary widely. They depend on the local context and needs. Communities may want to explore community need and receptiveness to the following solutions to environmental issues (among others): 
    
   • reducing the carbon footprints of public- and private-sector operations by transitioning to clean and efficient energy sources or improving the quality and frequency of public transportation to improve air quality
   • improving wildfire mitigation strategies and practices to prevent disasters like the Los Angeles fires that could leave pollutants lingering in the soil for years
   • investing in green infrastructure, including developing parks and other green spaces to improve air and water quality and mitigate heat
   • pursuing strategies to reduce pollutants from industry, construction, demolition, and agriculture through local building code and zoning and collaboration with local businesses and farmers to improve air and water quality and reduce exposure to toxins
4. Fund community-identified solutions 
   Whether through grassroots programs or city-led initiatives, communities need funding from the philanthropic and private sectors to pursue environmental quality objectives. In the past several months, federal grants and executive orders for environmental justice have been slashed as the Environmental Protection Agency begins to walk back regulations that protect communities against pollutants. Others will need to step in to resource projects that both draw on and strengthen communities’ social capital in pursuit of actions that prevent pollution and build greener spaces. 

Improving environmental quality now can fuel better health, education, employment, and financial outcomes for residents and, ultimately, community-wide upward mobility.