Areas of Persistent Poverty & Historically Disadvantaged Communities

To determine if a project is located in these areas for the purpose of a RAISE grant application, please use this new map tool!  Instructions are below on this page.

An “Area of Persistent Poverty” is defined for the RAISE grant program by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. A project is located in an Area of Persistent Poverty for the RAISE 2023 grant program if:

1. the County in which the project is located consistently had greater than or equal to 20 percent of the population living in poverty in all three of the following datasets: (a) the 1990 decennial census; (b) the 2000 decennial census; and (c) the 2021 Small Area Income Poverty Estimates; OR
2. the Census Tract in which the project is located has a poverty rate of at least 20 percent as measured by the 2014-2018 5-year data series available from the American Community Survey of the Bureau of the Census; OR
3. the project is located in any territory or possession of the United States.

A "Historically Disadvantaged Community" is defined for the RAISE program, consistent with OMB's Interim Guidance for the Justice40 Initiative. A project is located in a Historically Disadvantaged Communities if:

1. the project is located in certain qualifying census tracts; OR
2. the project is located on Tribal land; OR
3. the project is located in any territory or possession of the United States.

How to use RAISE Mapping Tool:

1. Access the Mapping Tool at: https://maps.dot.gov/BTS/GrantProjectLocationVerification/
2. Locate the project location by searching or zooming. Utilize the "+" and "-" BUTTONS in the upper left-hand to fit the full project scope within the display area.
3. Ensure all layers are active by checking the boxes via the LAYER LIST tab in the upper right-hand corner. Layers are zoom-dependent. If the label is greyed out in the legend, the layer is not showing on the map because it is not zoomed in far enough.
4. Refer to the LEGEND and/or the LAYER LIST tab in the upper right-hand corner to understand the color shading and designations for your project area.
5. The BASEMAP GALLERY tab in the upper right-hand corner provides viewing options including satellite imagery, terrain and topographical reference information, if needed.

USDOT has also published a table to help applicants identify if a project meets these definitions.