The Heat-Health Risk Index examines the intersection of rising temperatures, population vulnerability, and health outcomes across communities.
When you're choosing a neighborhood in Los Angeles, heat probably isn't on your checklist. But it should be. The Heat-Health Risk Index exists because where you live in LA determines how much heat you absorb.
And heat in this city is not evenly distributed.
On the same sweltering August afternoon, one neighborhood sits shaded at 88°F while another just 4 miles away bakes on open asphalt at 103°F. That gap follows patterns of tree cover, pavement, housing age, and income. For people with asthma, heart conditions, young children, or elderly family members, that difference is a medical emergency. Over 200 people die from heat in LA every year, most in neighborhoods that had no idea they were high-risk.
This index combines temperature exposure, air quality, and asthma rates into a single risk score for every census tract in LA. Before you sign a lease, you deserve to know what you're moving into.
These visualizations illustrate how heat exposure and health vulnerability cluster across LA's neighborhoods, and why where you live matters.
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Hover over any census tract to see its Heat-Health Risk score, pollution, asthma, and temperature percentiles.
Ready to see how your neighborhood scores?
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