When Was Lead Paint Banned? Lead Paint in US Homes by Year Built and State

When was lead paint banned? A 1977 rule that took effect in February 1978

The nationwide ban came from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, not EPA. It stopped the sale of new lead paint for homes; it did not require anyone to remove paint already on walls.

The CPSC published its final rules on lead-containing paint in the Federal Register of September 1, 1977 (3 documents, pages 44192 to 44201). The rule now sits at 16 CFR Part 1303, which cites 42 FR 44199 as its source and applies to paint, toys and furniture manufactured after February 27, 1978.

The 1977 rule defined lead-containing paint as paint with more than 0.06 percent lead by weight of the dried film. Congress cut that limit to 0.009 percent (90 ppm) effective August 14, 2009, through section 101(f) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (16 CFR 1303.1; CPSC guidance).

An earlier, narrower law came first. The Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act (Pub. L. 91-695) of January 13, 1971 directed HUD to bar lead-based paint in housing built or rehabilitated by the federal government or with federal money (42 U.S.C. 4831). That is why some sources give 1971 and others 1978: 1971 covered federally associated housing, 1978 covered paint sold for all homes.

A house built in the 1950s is more likely than not to have lead paint

HUD's most recent national survey, AHHS II, tested 703 homes in 2018 and 2019 with XRF analyzers. HUD reports that the share of homes with lead paint increases significantly with age.

In the American Healthy Homes Survey II, 85.4 percent of homes built before 1940 had lead-based paint somewhere in the building, as did 61.0 percent of homes built 1940 to 1959, 23.6 percent of homes built 1960 to 1977 and 6.5 percent of homes built 1978 to 2017. Nationally, 34,598,000 homes (29.4 percent) had it.

Lead-based paint: Paint or another surface coating with at least 1.0 milligram of lead per square centimeter or 0.5 percent lead by weight (40 CFR 745.103). This is the test standard for existing homes. It is a different threshold from the CPSC limit on new paint.

The era percentages are stable across three HUD surveys. Pre-1940 homes went from 87 percent in 1999 to 85.4 percent in 2018-2019, a change of -1.6 points. Homes built 1940 to 1959 fell 8.0 points, from 69 to 61.0 percent. HUD attributes declines in older homes to demolition and to gut renovations and window and siding replacement that remove some lead paint (AHHS II, section 4).

Before-1978 homes as a group: 30,854,000 of 59,832,000 had lead-based paint, or 51.6 percent (AHHS II Table B-1). EPA's web page says "approximately three-quarters" of pre-1978 homes still contain some (EPA); that is 23.4 points above HUD's latest measured rate and the page gives no survey year.

New York leads and Nevada trails in estimated lead paint homes by state

No federal survey measures lead paint by state. We built an estimate by applying HUD's national rates per construction era to each state's 2024 housing stock by year built.

By this estimate, 34,559,139 occupied US homes (26.0 percent) were likely to contain some lead-based paint in 2024, with a bounding range of 27,733,419 to 41,329,482 from the survey's confidence limits. New York has the highest estimated share at 44.9 percent, then the District of Columbia at 43.4 percent and Massachusetts at 41.7 percent. Nevada has the lowest at 11.4 percent; New York's estimated share is 3.9 times Nevada's.

By count, California has the most estimated lead paint homes at 3,731,311, despite a mid-table share of 27.0 percent, followed by New York at 3,517,955. The five largest (California, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Illinois) hold 37.5 percent of the national estimate. The median state share is 25.0 percent.

Two-thirds of the estimated lead paint homes are old: homes built before 1940 account for 36.4 percent and homes built 1940 to 1959 for 31.2 percent, together 67.7 percent. Homes built 1978 or later make up 55.1 percent of the occupied stock but only an estimated 4,750,325 lead paint homes.

The era-only model lands within 4 points of HUD's regional rates

Comparing the model with what HUD actually measured in each Census region shows where the shortcut works and where it falls short.

Applied to the whole country, the model gives 34,559,139 homes, which is 38,861 fewer than the 34,598,000 HUD measured in 2018-2019. The model share (26.0 percent) is lower than HUD's 29.4 percent because the 2024 stock includes homes built since the survey and because ACS counts all occupied homes while AHHS II counted homes where children may live (AHHS II; ACS).

The model reproduces HUD's regional order (Northeast, Midwest, West, South) and comes within -4.0 to -0.9 points of each regional rate. HUD found the Northeast and Midwest significantly higher than the South and West for all homes, but found the regional differences not significant within pre-1978 housing (AHHS II Table B-1). That supports the assumption that age mix, not region, drives most of the state differences. A cross-check with the 2020-2024 5-year ACS (Census) gives 34,453,403 homes (26.7 percent) and moves no state more than 3 places.

Kitchen and bath tear-outs add a lead source the ban never touched: tile glaze

AHHS II counts lead in ceramic glaze as lead-based paint when it reaches 1.0 mg/cm2. Tile is common in kitchens and bathrooms, and HUD flags demolition and cutting as the moments it can release lead.

HUD estimates 6,292,000 homes (5.3 percent) had lead at or above 1.0 mg/cm2 on one or more ceramic surfaces in 2018-2019, and 3,671,000 homes (3.1 percent) counted as lead-based paint homes only because of ceramic readings (AHHS II Table 4-2). That is 10.6 percent of all lead paint homes.

Ceramic lead shows up in every era: 9.7 percent of homes built 1940 to 1959 and 2.7 percent of homes built 1978 to 2017. Among post-1977 homes classified as having lead-based paint, 41.2 percent qualified only because of ceramic surfaces. HUD notes that bathrooms were not always among the rooms sampled, so the true rate is "almost certainly higher" (AHHS II).

HUD states that lead is not banned in ceramic tile glazing and that glaze rarely raises dust lead under normal use, but that lead could be released by demolition, abrasion, drilling or cutting tiles (AHHS II, section 4). For the separate question of lead in water lines, see our lead pipes map; for another pre-ban material common in old bathrooms and kitchens, see when was asbestos banned.

Which kitchen and bath jobs fall under EPA's RRP rule

The Renovation, Repair and Painting rule applies to paid work that disturbs paint in homes built before 1978. Demolition of painted surfaces is covered at any size.

EPA published the RRP rule at 73 FR 21692 on April 22, 2008 (Federal Register). From April 22, 2010, no firm may perform covered work without certification, and work practice standards apply from July 6, 2010 (40 CFR 745.81). Lead-based paint is assumed present unless the components are tested (40 CFR 745.87(e)).

Minor repair and maintenance is exempt only when the job disturbs 6 square feet or less of painted surface per room inside, or 20 square feet or less outside, and does not involve window replacement or demolition of painted surfaces (40 CFR 745.83). Removing walls, ceilings, plumbing or windows counts as renovation under the same section, so a paid tear-out of painted walls, trim or cabinets in a pre-1978 kitchen or bath is covered work unless testing clears the components. Firms pay EPA $300 for certification and re-certify every 5 years; the initial renovator course is at least 8 training hours (40 CFR 745.89, 745.225, 745.238).

Homeowners doing their own work in their own pre-1978 home are generally not covered, but landlords, home childcare operators and house flippers are (EPA). EPA has authorized 14 states (Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin) to run their own programs. The schedule effect for a remodel is covered in our kitchen remodel timeline and bathroom remodel timeline.

EPA has brought 1,029 RRP cases, with a median penalty of $2,000

EPA's own case database shows RRP cases every year since 2010, mostly administrative, with small typical penalties and a few years with large totals.

We counted 1,029 distinct EPA cases that cite the RRP provision (TSCA law section 402C, 'Lead: RRP') in the ECHO ICIS-FE&C case download dated October 24, 2026: 1,010 administrative and 19 judicial. Of those, 967 carried a federal penalty, with a median of $2,000 and a total of $43,610,284. From fiscal 2010 through fiscal 2025 there were 983 cases, peaking at 112 in fiscal 2024 and 88 in fiscal 2025. Fiscal 2026 shows 44 cases so far and is provisional.

The legal ceiling is far higher than typical penalties: RRP violations are TSCA section 409 violations, and the maximum civil penalty under 15 U.S.C. 2615(a)(1) is $49,772 per violation for penalties assessed on or after January 8, 2025 (40 CFR 19.4). These counts exclude cases run by the 14 authorized states. Penalty totals per fiscal year swing on a few large cases, and a case penalty can include non-RRP counts.

How a home is tested for lead paint, and who may do it

Year built tells you the odds; only testing tells you about a specific home. Federal rules name who may make that call.

EPA tells owners planning work in a pre-1978 home to hire a certified lead-based paint inspector or risk assessor, or to assume lead-based paint is present (EPA). CDC gives the same direction: to find out if a home has lead, hire a certified lead inspector (CDC). Under the RRP rule, a certified renovator can also clear specific components with an EPA-recognized test kit or a lab paint-chip sample (40 CFR 745.82(a)).

An inspection reports the lead content of painted surfaces; a risk assessment reports whether hazards such as deteriorated paint or lead dust are present (CDC). Since January 12, 2026, any reportable level of lead in floor or sill dust counts as a dust-lead hazard under federal rules, replacing the 10 and 100 ug/ft2 standards (40 CFR 745.65(b)).

The numbers in one list

1. The CPSC lead paint ban was published in the Federal Register on September 1, 1977 and covers products manufactured after February 27, 1978 (United States).^[1][2]
2. The lead limit for new paint was 0.06 percent from 1978 and 0.009 percent (90 ppm) from August 14, 2009 (United States).^[1][3]
3. A 1971 law (Pub. L. 91-695) directed HUD to bar lead-based paint in federally built or assisted housing after January 13, 1971.^[4]
4. In 2018-2019, 34,598,000 US homes (29.4 percent) had lead-based paint somewhere in the building (HUD AHHS II).^[6]
5. Homes built before 1940: 85.4 percent had lead-based paint; 1940 to 1959: 61.0 percent; 1960 to 1977: 23.6 percent; 1978 to 2017: 6.5 percent (HUD AHHS II, 2018-2019).^[6]
6. 51.6 percent of pre-1978 US homes had lead-based paint in 2018-2019, below the three-quarters figure on EPA's web page (HUD AHHS II; EPA).^[6][22]
7. An estimated 34,559,139 occupied US homes (26.0 percent) were likely to contain lead-based paint in 2024 (KBR model estimate from AHHS II and ACS 2024).^[6][8]
8. New York has the highest estimated share at 44.9 percent and Nevada the lowest at 11.4 percent in 2024 (KBR model estimate).^[6][8]
9. Homes built before 1960 account for 67.7 percent of estimated lead paint homes in 2024 (KBR model estimate).^[6][8]
10. 6,292,000 US homes (5.3 percent) had lead at or above 1.0 mg/cm2 on ceramic surfaces in 2018-2019; lead is not banned in tile glaze (HUD AHHS II).^[6]
11. The RRP rule exempts only interior work disturbing 6 square feet or less of paint per room, and never window replacement or demolition of painted surfaces (40 CFR 745.83).^[11]
12. EPA brought 1,029 RRP enforcement cases from fiscal 2009 to October 2026, peaking at 112 in fiscal 2024, with a median penalty of $2,000 (EPA ECHO).^[24]
13. Since January 12, 2026, any reportable level of lead in floor or sill dust is a dust-lead hazard under federal rules (40 CFR 745.65).^[11][13]

Calculations

Download the calculations (CSV)

Summary

• The CPSC ban (16 CFR 1303) was published September 1, 1977 and applies to paint manufactured after February 27, 1978; a 1971 law had already barred lead paint in federally funded housing.
• HUD's AHHS II found lead-based paint in 85.4 percent of homes built before 1940, 61.0 percent built 1940 to 1959, 23.6 percent built 1960 to 1977 and 6.5 percent built 1978 to 2017.
• Applying those rates to 2024 Census housing data, we estimate 34.6 million occupied homes (26.0 percent) likely contain some lead-based paint. This is a model estimate.
• New York (44.9 percent), DC (43.4 percent) and Massachusetts (41.7 percent) have the highest estimated shares; Nevada (11.4 percent) the lowest. California has the most homes at 3,731,311.
• Lead in ceramic tile glaze is not banned; 6.3 million homes had it, and it accounts for 41.2 percent of lead paint findings in post-1977 homes.
• EPA's RRP rule covers paid work disturbing more than 6 square feet of interior paint per room in pre-1978 homes, and any window replacement or demolition of painted surfaces.
• EPA has brought 1,029 RRP enforcement cases; the median penalty is $2,000 against a $49,772 per-violation maximum.

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Reproduce this analysis

Every figure comes from the files below. The scripts that pulled and computed them are kept with the report and can be re-run.

Data quality and exclusions

• Puerto Rico (1 geography) excluded from the ACS state files because AHHS II covers the 50 states and DC only.
• ACS 1970s decade split 80/20 between the 1960-1977 and 1978-later eras for all 51 geographies, following the AHHS II report's own comparison method.
• Each state's ten year-built bands were checked to sum exactly to the B25036 total; all 51 states and the US row passed.
• The 5-year B25036 file (all geographies) was trimmed locally to the US and 52 state-level rows before saving; the 1-year file is saved unmodified.
• ECHO case files contained NUL bytes; they were stripped when reading. 1,029 RRP case numbers matched 1,029 case records, with none dropped.
• In ECHO, CASE_ENFORCEMENTS penalty fields were empty for these cases, so penalties come from CASE_ENFORCEMENT_CONCLUSIONS (967 of 1,029 cases with a penalty above zero).
• 1 chartlocal.com result from the keyword search could not be opened (no response) and was not used.

Methodology

Ban dates come only from the Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR, current to October 23, 2026), the Federal Register (the September 1, 1977 issue via govinfo and later rules via the federalregister.gov API) and the U.S. Code. Agency web pages were used for context and program details. Secondary sources (PolitiFact, America's Health Rankings) were read only to compare coverage.

Prevalence by construction era comes from HUD's American Healthy Homes Survey II Lead Findings final report (October 29, 2021), Table ES-1, B-1, 4-2 and 4-3. The report's hud.gov address now returns HTTP 404; we read an Internet Archive capture of the official PDF dated June 27, 2022 and cross-checked headline figures against HUD's May 2021 presentation held by CDC Stacks.

State estimates: for each state we summed owner and renter occupied units by year built from ACS 2024 1-year table B25036 (bulk summary file, no API key), mapped ACS decades to AHHS II eras (1970s split 80/20 at 1978, the assumption the AHHS II report itself uses), and multiplied by the national AHHS II prevalence for each era. The formula is: estimate = 0.854 x pre-1940 + 0.610 x (1940s + 1950s) + 0.236 x (1960s + 0.8 x 1970s) + 0.065 x (0.2 x 1970s + 1980 and later). Low and high bounds substitute each era's 95 percent confidence limits. This is a model: AHHS II prevalence is national, and applying it to states assumes the same prevalence per construction era in every state.

Conflicts: EPA's web page says about three-quarters of pre-1978 homes contain lead paint; HUD's AHHS II measured 51.6 percent. We report both and use HUD's figure because it is dated and documented. EPA's page dates the 2019 dust rule's effect to January 2, 2020; the Federal Register gives January 6, 2020, which we use. CDC cites 2.6 million hazard homes with young children (HUD's old dust standard); HUD's new-standard figure is 3.3 million.

Enforcement: we counted distinct EPA case numbers with TSCA law section 402C ('Lead: RRP') in the ECHO ICIS-FE&C case download dated October 24, 2026, joined to case records for fiscal year and type and to enforcement conclusions for federal penalties.

Last updated October 27, 2026. Not advice: this report does not assess any home and is not a substitute for testing by a certified inspector or risk assessor.

This report presents published data with its limitations. It is not legal, financial or investment advice.

Sources, ranked by quality

Tier 1: primary and official sources (26)

• [1] eCFR / U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. 16 CFR Part 1303, Ban of Lead-Containing Paint and Certain Consumer Products Bearing Lead-Containing Paint. current to 2026-10-23. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [2] Office of the Federal Register via govinfo. Federal Register Vol. 42, No. 170, Sept. 1, 1977, Part V: CPSC final rules on lead-containing paint. 1977. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [3] U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Lead in Paint (business guidance). current. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [4] U.S. Government Publishing Office (U.S. Code, 2023 ed.). 42 U.S.C. 4831, Use of lead-based paint. 1971 to present. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [5] U.S. Government Publishing Office (U.S. Code, 2023 ed.). 42 U.S.C. 4851 and notes, Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992. 1992. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [6] U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. American Healthy Homes Survey II Lead Findings, Final Report (Oct. 29, 2021); Internet Archive capture of the hud.gov PDF, 2022-06-27. fieldwork 2018-2019. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [7] HUD Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes via CDC Stacks. Findings on Lead-Based Paint/Hazards from the American Healthy Homes Survey II (presentation, May 14, 2021). 2018-2019. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [8] U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2024 1-year Summary File, table B25036. 2024. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [9] U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year Summary File, table B25036. 2020-2024. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [10] U.S. Census Bureau. 2024 and 2025 ACS Data Release Schedules. 2025-2026. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [11] eCFR / U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 40 CFR Part 745, Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention in Certain Residential Structures. current to 2026-10-23. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [12] Federal Register / EPA. Lead; Renovation, Repair, and Painting Program, 73 FR 21692. 2008. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [13] Federal Register / EPA. Reconsideration of the Dust-Lead Hazard Standards and Dust-Lead Post-Abatement Clearance Levels, 89 FR 89416. 2024. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [14] Federal Register / EPA. Review of the Dust-Lead Hazard Standards and the Definition of Lead-Based Paint, 84 FR 32632. 2019. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [15] Federal Register / EPA and HUD. Lead; Requirements for Disclosure of Known Lead-Based Paint and/or Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Housing, 61 FR 9064. 1996. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [16] Federal Register / EPA. Dust-lead rule correction, 90 FR 30211. 2025. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [17] eCFR / EPA. 40 CFR Part 19, Adjustment of Civil Monetary Penalties for Inflation. 2025 to present. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [18] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program. current. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [19] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program Rules. 2008 to 2016 rules. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [20] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Renovation, Repair and Painting Program: Contractors. current. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [21] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Hazard Standards and Clearance Levels for Lead in Paint, Dust and Soil. 2001 to 2024 rules. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [22] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Protect Your Family from Sources of Lead. current. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [23] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Real Estate Disclosures about Potential Lead Hazards. current. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [24] U.S. EPA, Enforcement and Compliance History Online. ICIS-FE&C enforcement case download (case_downloads.zip, dated 2026-10-24). FY2009 to Oct. 2026. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [25] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention. page dated 2025-08-21. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [26] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About Lead in Paint. page dated 2026-08-25. Accessed 2026-10-27.

Tier 2: trade bodies, market research, company data (1)

• [27] America's Health Rankings, United Health Foundation. Housing With Lead Risk (state measure). 2024. Accessed 2026-10-27.

Tier 3: journalism and expert commentary (1)

• [28] PolitiFact (Poynter Institute). Lead paint was banned to protect kids, not to expose them to radiation. 2023. Accessed 2026-10-27.