The Neighborhoods that Offer a ‘Bargain’ on Upward Mobility
“The ‘Opportunity Atlas,’ contains a trove of data on median household income, incarceration rates, and marriage rates, and lets viewers dig down to the Census tract level, showing just how vastly different the future economic prospects of a child can look from one neighborhood to the next. The earlier a child moves to an above-average neighborhood, the greater the gain. On average, a family that moves from a neighborhood that has below-average opportunity to one that’s above-average at the time of a child’s birth can increase that child’s lifetime earnings as an adult by $200,000, and dramatically decreases the likelihood of incarceration, according to the new research. That’s $9,000 more per year than someone who moves in their 20s.”