It has been said that your ZIP code may be more important for your health than your genetic code. This is because factors known as the social determinants of health (such as housing, education, job opportunities, child care, and transportation) can greatly influence your chances of becoming sick and dying early. Your address reflects the daily living conditions that can create—or limit—your opportunities to be healthy.

This report from the UCSF Center on Social Disparities in Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Build Healthy Places Network is intended to be a resource for those working to improve low-income communities and the lives of the people living in them.