Counties where children have the best opportunity for economic mobility in Pennsylvania
This story originally appeared on Wealth Enhancement Group and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
Counties where children have the best opportunity for economic mobility in Pennsylvania
Americans have long understood that their birthplace can significantly affect their futures, and academics have increasingly been able to connect tangible early life factors like where they live and the friendships they've cultivated with potential future income.
Among the most recent studies shedding light on what's known as economic mobility—a person's ability to move themselves and their families up the socioeconomic ladder over their lifetime—are a series of papers authored by Harvard University researchers leveraging vast troves of social networking data.
As part of a national analysis, Wealth Enhancement Group used data from Harvard University's Social Capital Atlas project to identify where in Pennsylvania children have the best (and worst) chances at upward economic mobility.
The research draws on a privacy-protected dataset representing 21 billion friendships from Facebook made public through its parent company Meta's Data for Good project. It also uses anonymous tax records, according to the authors. The scholars assigned a score to locales according to how economically connected low- and high-income people living in the area have historically been over at least a decade, per that data. The dataset does not include scores for about 180 of the 3,000 or so counties in the U.S.
The research attempts to fill in the gaps of previous efforts to study American economic mobility that did not consider a person's vast social networks nor their importance in creating better lives for themselves and their children.
It turns out the ability to cultivate friendships linking people of different socioeconomic backgrounds with one another is the strongest factor in determining whether a child can surpass the earning potential of their parents, Harvard researchers found. They call this economic connectedness.
Read on to find out where economic connectedness is strongest in your state.
#50. Northumberland County
- Median Income: $51,005
- Population: 91,853
--- 93.2% white
--- 2.5% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#49. Cambria County
- Median Income: $51,018
- Population: 134,048
--- 92.8% white
--- 3.7% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.5% Asian
#48. Lebanon County
- Median Income: $66,164
- Population: 142,486
--- 84.3% white
--- 2.2% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1.5% Asian
#47. Potter County
- Median Income: $50,944
- Population: 16,478
--- 96.7% white
--- 0.4% Black
--- 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#46. Huntingdon County
- Median Income: $57,055
- Population: 44,458
--- 90.8% white
--- 5.2% Black
--- 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#45. Lawrence County
- Median Income: $53,106
- Population: 86,311
--- 91.7% white
--- 3.6% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.3% Asian
#44. Clarion County
- Median Income: $53,096
- Population: 37,571
--- 95.8% white
--- 1.5% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.5% Asian
#43. Bradford County
- Median Income: $54,383
- Population: 60,233
--- 96% white
--- 0.7% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.6% Asian
#42. Clinton County
- Median Income: $53,792
- Population: 37,824
--- 95.3% white
--- 1.2% Black
--- 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.7% Asian
#41. Greene County
- Median Income: $57,497
- Population: 36,248
--- 93% white
--- 3% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#40. Forest County
- Median Income: $43,958
- Population: 7,121
--- 74.4% white
--- 17.9% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1.7% Asian
#39. Lackawanna County
- Median Income: $58,366
- Population: 215,529
--- 87.6% white
--- 2.7% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 2.9% Asian
#38. Tioga County
- Median Income: $54,671
- Population: 41,089
--- 96.7% white
--- 0.9% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.5% Asian
#37. Somerset County
- Median Income: $54,332
- Population: 74,331
--- 94.5% white
--- 2.4% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#36. Elk County
- Median Income: $57,551
- Population: 31,037
--- 96.7% white
--- 0.7% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#35. Schuylkill County
- Median Income: $57,785
- Population: 143,308
--- 92.2% white
--- 2.9% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#34. Bedford County
- Median Income: $54,596
- Population: 47,729
--- 96.9% white
--- 0.8% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#33. Lycoming County
- Median Income: $58,177
- Population: 114,274
--- 90.4% white
--- 4.9% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.8% Asian
#32. Juniata County
- Median Income: $56,382
- Population: 23,607
--- 95.5% white
--- 1.2% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.5% Asian
#31. Franklin County
- Median Income: $66,329
- Population: 155,592
--- 90.1% white
--- 3.7% Black
--- 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.8% Asian
#30. Indiana County
- Median Income: $52,546
- Population: 83,620
--- 93.6% white
--- 2.2% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1% Asian
#29. Susquehanna County
- Median Income: $59,391
- Population: 38,892
--- 96.7% white
--- 0.6% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#28. Beaver County
- Median Income: $62,152
- Population: 168,260
--- 89% white
--- 6% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.5% Asian
#27. Fulton County
- Median Income: $58,343
- Population: 14,529
--- 95.6% white
--- 1.4% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#26. Armstrong County
- Median Income: $56,838
- Population: 65,967
--- 96.9% white
--- 1% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.3% Asian
#25. Delaware County
- Median Income: $80,398
- Population: 573,883
--- 66.6% white
--- 21.8% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 6% Asian
#24. Allegheny County
- Median Income: $66,659
- Population: 1,246,116
--- 78.4% white
--- 12.7% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 3.9% Asian
#23. York County
- Median Income: $72,543
- Population: 454,605
--- 85.9% white
--- 5.9% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1.5% Asian
#22. Lancaster County
- Median Income: $73,688
- Population: 550,480
--- 86% white
--- 4% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 2.4% Asian
#21. Wyoming County
- Median Income: $62,795
- Population: 26,389
--- 95.5% white
--- 1% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#20. Snyder County
- Median Income: $62,951
- Population: 39,877
--- 95.6% white
--- 1% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.6% Asian
#19. Columbia County
- Median Income: $55,572
- Population: 65,013
--- 94.2% white
--- 1.7% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1% Asian
#18. Sullivan County
- Median Income: $54,074
- Population: 5,935
--- 93.7% white
--- 3.5% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.1% Asian
#17. Washington County
- Median Income: $68,787
- Population: 209,090
--- 92.2% white
--- 3.4% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1% Asian
#16. Westmoreland County
- Median Income: $64,708
- Population: 355,107
--- 93.6% white
--- 2.3% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1% Asian
#15. Union County
- Median Income: $61,807
- Population: 43,094
--- 87.1% white
--- 6.9% Black
--- 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1.7% Asian
#14. Carbon County
- Median Income: $59,289
- Population: 64,792
--- 93.5% white
--- 1.9% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.5% Asian
#13. Perry County
- Median Income: $72,922
- Population: 45,879
--- 95.6% white
--- 0.9% Black
--- 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#12. Northampton County
- Median Income: $77,103
- Population: 311,359
--- 81% white
--- 6% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 2.9% Asian
#11. Adams County
- Median Income: $72,492
- Population: 103,782
--- 92.2% white
--- 1.6% Black
--- 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.8% Asian
#10. Wayne County
- Median Income: $56,744
- Population: 51,244
--- 91.8% white
--- 3.3% Black
--- 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.7% Asian
#9. Monroe County
- Median Income: $72,679
- Population: 168,128
--- 73% white
--- 14.2% Black
--- 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 2.6% Asian
#8. Cumberland County
- Median Income: $77,001
- Population: 257,333
--- 85.9% white
--- 4.2% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 4.8% Asian
#7. Butler County
- Median Income: $77,065
- Population: 192,561
--- 94.9% white
--- 1% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1.3% Asian
#6. Chester County
- Median Income: $109,969
- Population: 531,704
--- 81.8% white
--- 5.6% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 6% Asian
#5. Pike County
- Median Income: $71,360
- Population: 58,345
--- 84.7% white
--- 6.3% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1.5% Asian
#4. Montour County
- Median Income: $64,858
- Population: 18,198
--- 92% white
--- 2% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 3.5% Asian
#3. Montgomery County
- Median Income: $99,361
- Population: 850,890
--- 77.1% white
--- 9.2% Black
--- 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 7.7% Asian
#2. Centre County
- Median Income: $64,995
- Population: 158,879
--- 86.3% white
--- 3.5% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 6.2% Asian
#1. Bucks County
- Median Income: $99,302
- Population: 643,872
--- 85.1% white
--- 3.9% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 4.8% Asian
This story features data reporting and writing by Dom DiFurio and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 50 states.