More than nine in 10 Pennsylvania homes are outfitted with air conditioning, but cooling systems still aren’t a given in some areas of the commonwealth, according to newly released federal estimates.
In Philadelphia and its suburbs, nearly 100% of occupied homes have A/C, and the rates are also high in and around Pittsburgh, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
But in rural and higher-elevation parts of the Keystone State, the share of climate-controlled households plummets, according to the figures released May 19. Fewer than 60% of homes in many parts of Cambria County have cooling systems, for instance.
Pennsylvania, with air conditioning in 94.3% of occupied homes, is roughly in line with its neighbors, the estimates show. New York and West Virginia have slightly lower percentages, and Ohio, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware have higher totals.
Census officials drew upon data from the American Community Survey and American Housing Survey to develop these new estimates. They cautioned that the analysis is an experimental product that they’re rolling out to meet developing data needs and that they might tweak it in response to feedback or changing circumstances.
As climate change drives temperatures upward, air conditioning increasingly is viewed as a public health necessity. Heat stress is the top weather-related cause of death and can be especially dangerous for older people or those with underlying health problems, according to the World Health Organization.
Heat-related deaths among people who were 65 or older jumped by about 85% from the early 2000s to around 2020, the organization reported.
However, using these cooling systems to cope with rising temperatures is a double-edged sword, since their energy demands contribute to the underlying problem of climate change, experts say.
