How Bad is Palm Desert Pollution? See What New State Figures Say (Map)

How at risk are Palm Desert residents from pollution compared to other cities in the state?  According to the state officials, the city is in better shape than the average California town.

Based on new state figures released this week, Palm Desert's two zip codes are in the top half of California zip codes in terms of being at potential for health risks stemming from pollution of all sorts.  The town's 92211 ranks in the 51 to 55 percentile of all California zip codes and 92260 ranks in the 61 to 65 percentile.

See a map of the data for every town in the state here

The figures come from a new state report issued by the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) that compiles health risks based on 11 types of pollution and factors in seven categories of population and demographic factors, including poverty and education levels.

The purpose of the report is to identify communities that are eligible for grants from the state's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, according to Sam Delson, an OEHHA spokesman. The law governing that fund mandates certain percentages be spent on disadvantaged communities, making it necessary to include economic factors in the state report.

The state has a map of those communities that are eligible on the report website.

The map above shows scores from each of those categories as well as overall rankings for every zip code in California with a Patch publication. Simply click on any town to see the full report card for each zip code.

You can see a similar map showing every zip code in the state here, and see more details of the report on the state's website.

In general, Palm Desert's air quality metrics were around state average, while its ranked much better in most water and solid waste categories than most areas.  The education and poverty level metrics were slightly better than state average.