Intergenerational Mobility in the 50 Largest Commuting Zones

May 12, 2015
Harvard University
Deseret News

The subject of upward mobility in America will be a prominent topic in the upcoming presidential campaign, and it’s important the debate is grounded in hard fact, not hostage to the kind of rhetoric that arouses passions and causes people to lose objectivity.

A trove of new data is available through a landmark study by economists at Harvard University, and it offers needed clarity in what is a deeply complex issue. The Equality of Opportunity Project involved the tracking of millions of families over a period of years and uncovered a direct link between a child’s future earnings and the specific place where he or she grew up. In short, some neighborhoods are conducive to upward mobility while others, for a variety of reasons, are not.

#1 Salt Lake City, Utah
#2 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
#3 San Jose, California
#4 Boston, Massachusetts
#5 San Francisco, California
#6 San Diego, California
#7 Manchester, New Hampshire
#8 Minneapolis, Minnesota
#9 Newark, New Jersey
#10 New York, New York