How Bad is Redwood City Pollution? See What New State Figures Say

How burned by pollution are Redwood City and Woodside residents compared to other cities in the state?  According to the state officials, most neighborhoods are in better shape than the average California town.

California released data this week that shows two of Redwood City's three zip codes are in the lower half of California zip codes. 

94062, which includes Woodside, ranks close to average in the 71 to 75 percentile of all California zip codes while 94061 fares a little worse in the 56 to 60 percentile.

But zip code 94063—the part of Redwood City closest to the bay—is in the bottom 11 to 15 percentile of California zip codes.

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, factoring in population, socioeconomic status, and education levels.  You can find more information about the methodology here. 

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.

Unfortunately for Redwood City and Woodside, only cities that rank in the bottom 10 percent will qualify.

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, Redwood City and Woodside fare poorly on traffic metrics as well as ground water and low birth weight categories. The towns did well in education metrics and on certain air quality metrics such as ozone pollution.

See More On Patch

• Bed Bugs Discovered in Unlikely Place
• Redwood City's Unemployment Rate Drops Again
• High School Graduation Rates Falling
• Find a Summer Camp on the Peninsula