Your Zip Code Determines Your Economic Fate

by Jenny Blanchard

In 1963 the U.S. Post Office introduced a remarkable new creation: the Zone Improvement Plan, otherwise known as a (ZIP) Code, as a means to allow mail sorting methods to become faster and eventually be automated. Little did the Postal Service know at the time that this innovation also created unimagined socio-economic benefits as an organizing and enabling device.

A residential zip code – where a child grows up—is more predictive of social mobility and economic fate than any other national metric. And due to a lack of affordable housing and enduring patterns of residential segregation—the zip code where people live is largely determined by income, race, and ethnicity. Your zip code is a more powerful predictor of your health than your genetic code. In some states there is a 13-year difference in life expectancy based on what county you live in.

And this is glaringly apparent in our home state of Pennsylvania. In fact, 85 percent of Pennsylvania’s power plants are located in neighborhoods with more low income and Black families than the state median. The fact that these facilities are located in Black communities is not an accident — it derives from centuries of racist policies, and it severely affects the quality of life for individuals in these communities.

Black Americans bear the burden of high exposure to particulate matter from these power plants. Exposure to these particles carries many health risks, including decreased lung function, irregular heartbeat, lower birth weight, and premature death in people with heart or lung disease. Black Americans endure some of the highest particulate pollution in the country along with the highest rate of childhood asthma hospitalizations.  During the recent pandemic, elevated particulate air pollution in Black communities meant these residents were more at risk for suffering from complications and potentially dying from COVID-19.

The so-called "American Dream," a phrase that has become central to our national ethos, offers forth the inspiring notion that every person has the freedom and opportunity to succeed, regardless of their circumstances. All obstacles can be overcome through strength, hard work, and perseverance. But no brave soul, no Horatio Alger hell-bent on going from rags to riches, no human being, no matter how committed and how tirelessly they toil, can overcome small particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter that have made their way deep into your lungs or your bloodstream.

The heavy weight of poverty and race on American lives take a staggering toll. A diminished life span should not be added to this terrible burden.