Automated map series on environmental burden and poverty across California’s counties

• Question. Do the California counties with the highest poverty also carry the highest environmental burden?

• Data. CalEnviroScreen tract-level results (CES score percentile and poverty percentile); U.S. Census county boundaries.

• Methods

  • Built a map series in ArcGIS Pro that generates one page per county from a single layout.

  • Compared each tract’s CalEnviroScreen percentile with its poverty percentile.

  • Summarized population-weighted county averages in a scatter chart.

• Findings. The Central Valley and Imperial County rank high on both measures. Rural northern counties such as Humboldt and Trinity rank high for poverty but low for environmental burden, a reminder that environmental and economic disadvantage do not always coincide.

• Tools. ArcGIS Pro (Map Series, Page Query)

• Images. One representative atlas page; county scatter chart