1,273,140 federally connected homes sit in buildings from the lead-paint era. Look yours up.

We pulled HUD's and USDA's own building records, 283,269 properties across public housing, Section 8, FHA-insured, tax-credit, and rural programs, and dated every building we could. If you live in one, manage one, or inspect them, the records below are yours to search. Free, no email.

Searches HUD public housing buildings, Section 8 multifamily, FHA-insured multifamily, LIHTC, and USDA rural properties. Oldest first.

The portfolio, dated

95,425public-housing buildings built before 1978 (67% of the dated stock)
560,002public-housing units in those pre-1978 buildings
1,273,140federally connected units in pre-1978 buildings, all programs
197Section 8 properties both pre-1978 and failing their HUD inspection (REAC under 60)

Sources: HUD open data (public housing buildings with construction dates, multifamily assistance and REAC physical inspection scores, FHA-insured multifamily, LIHTC) and USDA rural housing. Lead-based paint was banned for residential use in 1978; buildings built before then are "target housing" under the federal Lead Safe Housing Rule (24 CFR Part 35). A building's age says how likely lead paint is present, not whether it is currently a hazard. REAC measures overall physical condition, not paint specifically.

Where the oldest public housing is

Public-housing units in pre-1978 buildings, by state. New York alone holds more than the next five states combined.

State Pre-1978 units
1. New York 159,767
2. Pennsylvania 39,056
3. Puerto Rico 33,372
4. Alabama 23,585
5. Massachusetts 22,499
6. Ohio 17,907
7. Texas 16,845
8. Illinois 16,596
9. Georgia 15,581
10. North Carolina 13,739

What to do with it, depending on who you are

You live there
If your building came up pre-1978: federal law already works for you. Your landlord or housing authority must disclose known lead paint before you sign, and pre-1978 federally assisted housing falls under the Lead Safe Housing Rule. Peeling paint, paint dust, or a child under 6 in the home means you can request an inspection in writing, and your local health department can test your child's blood for free.

Start with the 60-second screener, and if you want the answer today, the kit shows you on the spot: spray a small amount of the reagent on a surface, and under the UV flashlight it glows bright green wherever there is lead paint or lead dust.
You run a program
PHAs and lead grantees: this same database ranks every address you serve, oldest first, so your crews knock where 87 of 100 doors pay off instead of canvassing blind. We build the risk map of your county with you, free, and your program's first 25 kits are free.

Email Eric directly or call 631-461-1838. The method is published and the white paper is here.
You inspect or remediate
The kit is a field screen: it shows your crew which units and which surfaces deserve the XRF and the lab sample, and it verifies dust is gone after the work, before the clearance visit. It is a screening pre-step, not a substitute for a certified inspection or clearance exam.

Get the kit ($75), or for volume and training questions, talk to Eric.
Cleared to buy

Fluoro-Spec Inc. manufactures the reagent under a U.S. EPA-authorized Low Volume Exemption under TSCA Section 5 (40 CFR 723.50), and the finished kit is sold in commerce today. Public lead programs already purchase it, including New Hampshire DHHS and the City of Columbus. Retail purchase of the finished kit is straightforward; the only thing that is non-transferable is the exemption to manufacture the active ingredient, which stays with us. Full regulatory disclosures, including the methylammonium bromide composition and the TSCA, DEA, and OSHA posture, are on our Safety & Compliance page.

Own your home instead?

The same records cover 52 million private homes. Type your ZIP and street address and see the year your house was built and what it means.

Check my home's risk Open the national map

Ritter EC. Childhood Lead-Exposure Prevention Through Predictive Mapping of At-Risk Housing Nationwide. 2026. Code and derived data archived at DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20531598. Building ages from HUD and USDA administrative records; era probabilities of lead-based paint from HUD's American Healthy Homes Survey. For LIHTC properties the federal data reports the year placed in service, which can be later than construction; treat LIHTC ages as a floor. A lookup on this page is a screening estimate from public records, not an inspection.

Fluoro-Spec Inc. 9 Technology Dr, East Setauket NY 11733 · eric@fluorospect.com · 631-461-1838. It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling and intended use. See Safety & Compliance.