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Infrastructure equity is an immediate concern with levees, constituting the backbone of the U.S. protection against flooding. Flooding patterns are exacerbated by anthropogenic climate change in several regions, posing a significant risk to the economy, safety, and well-being of the nation. The evolving risk of flooding is shown to disproportionately affect historically underserved and socially vulnerable communities (HUSVCs). Here we compare the sociodemographic and socioeconomic composition of leveed and non-leveed U.S. communities and show a substantial overrepresentation of HUSVCs in leveed areas at the state, regional, and national levels. Further, we analyze the proportion of communities designated as “disadvantaged” in leveed versus non-leveed areas, revealing a substantially larger population of disadvantaged communities residing behind levees. Our analyses show that nationally, Hispanic are …