The 50 counties with the lowest prevalence of man-made environmental hazards had an average population of 212,040. On average these counties had 0.46 percent of days annually considered bad air quality days by the EPA, compared to an average of 5.43 percent bad air quality days for all counties nationwide.
These counties had an average of 0.03 superfund sites on the national priority list per square mile, equal to the national average, and an average of 0.06 other environmental hazards per square mile compared to an average of 0.09 other environmental hazards per square mile for all counties nationwide.
The average median home price in these markets was $212,638 in July compared to a national median home price of $191,000. Median home prices increased an average of 2.0 percent from a year ago, were up an average of 6.3 percent from five years ago, and were up an average of 16.0 percent from 10 years ago.
The average unemployment rate in these markets in June 2014 was 5.6 percent, below the national unemployment rate of 6.1 percent. The average estimated median household income in 2014 for these counties was $55,850, above the estimated median household income nationwide of $52,912.
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