A Comprehensive Dataset of Residential Air Conditioning Prevalence in the Continental United States

Abstract This dataset presents the most comprehensive estimate of residential air conditioning (AC) prevalence across the continental United States. Using property-level data for over 103 million housing units from the Dewey database, we imputed and classified four AC types: central, other, evaporative cooler, and none, using XGBoost models optimized for performance. Housing characteristics, socioeconomic indicators, and environmental conditions, such as Cooling Degree Days and elevation, informed predictions. The final product offers national coverage with spatial resolution at the census tract, ZIP code, and metropolitan levels. Model validation was conducted using American Housing Survey data, with strong alignment observed for the central and no air conditioning (AC) categories. This dataset addresses longstanding gaps in understanding the geographic and demographic disparities in AC access, critical for public health, climate adaptation, and energy equity research. Users may integrate these data into epidemiological modeling, resilience planning, and policy analysis to support heat vulnerability assessments and infrastructure interventions.