The Impact of Pollution Burden on Micro-Level Residential Sorting

The presence of environmental degradation results in significant costs to residents that are likely to affect location choices at the micro-level. This paper utilizes unique Census tract level pollution data to examine the extent that homeowners sort across measurable environmental quality, and to endogenizes the grant process for high-pollution communities. Initial results indicate that drinking water and PM 2.5 pollution burden levels significantly impact sorting behaviors.