A recent study in Applied Geography, titled "Climate Gaps: Disparities in Residential Air Conditioning Access Across Ten US Metropolitan Areas," explores the significant disparities in residential air conditioning (AC) access across various U.S. cities. The survey's findings indicate that low-income, renter, and minority households have limited access to AC and are more likely to rely on window units, which are less effective at cooling and mitigating health risks associated with extreme heat. This is especially concerning as heatwaves are the deadliest natural hazard and are exacerbated in frequency and intensity by climate change.
The authors used data from the 2021 Metropolitan American Housing Survey (MAHS), part of the U.S. Census Bureau’s biennial American Housing Survey, including over 17,500 households across ten Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). This data enabled the researchers to examine households’ race/ethnicity, income levels, housing tenure, building type, and the age of the housing units in relation to AC access. Household income was grouped into three categories: $4,600 to $40,000 (low income/working class), $40,401 to $96,000 (middle income/middle class), and $96,001 to $1,587,000 (high income/upper class). Access was broken into three categories: central AC (higher-quality), window AC (lower-quality), and no AC. Using these variables, they created several models to predict AC access and type based on demographic and building characteristics.
The study reveals that Hispanic and Asian householders are significantly more likely to lack AC compared to their white counterparts. Black, Hispanic, Indigenous and multi-racial households were also between 1.2 and 1.7 times more likely to have window AC instead of higher quality central AC. The authors emphasize that these disparities are not merely coincidental but stem from structural inequalities, such as historical discrimination in housing markets and policies like redlining, which disproportionately affect communities of color.
The study also highlights unequal access to cooling based on income, with middle class households 1.5 times more likely and working-class households nearly three times as likely to use lower-quality window units compared to upper class households. When examining the overall likelihood of having AC access, regardless of type, middle class households were 1.5 times more likely to lack AC than upper class households, while working class households were twice as likely.
The study shows that AC access also varies with housing tenure, type, and age. Renters in both single-family and multifamily units are over two times less likely to have AC, and 2.5 times more likely to have window AC, than single-family owners. While mobile home renters and owners had similar levels of AC access as single-family, they were between five and six times more likely to have window AC. The research also reveals that housing units built before 1960 are three times more likely to lack AC and four times more likely to have window AC.
These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to reduce AC access disparities, particularly for renters and in low-income and minority communities that are most vulnerable to extreme heat. The authors recommend policy measures such as expanding AC access through federal, state, and local programs, incentivizing AC installation in rental properties and updating building codes to require central AC in areas experiencing frequent high temperatures. They also stress the importance of addressing the underlying social and economic factors that contribute to these disparities, including income inequality and housing quality.
Read the article here.