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 Iowa 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.
Life Atlas Photography // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Ringgold County
- Economic connectedness: 1.
- Median Income: $57,700
- Population: 4,739
--- 95.5% white
--- 0.1% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.2% Asian
#49. Jackson County
- Economic connectedness: 1.
- Median Income: $65,541
- Population: 19,499
--- 96.5% white
--- 0.5% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.5% Asian
#48. Linn County
- Economic connectedness: 1.
- Median Income: $70,360
- Population: 228,567
--- 86.4% white
--- 5.9% Black
--- 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 2.3% Asian
#47. Monona County
- Economic connectedness: 1.01
- Median Income: $56,107
- Population: 8,732
--- 95.6% white
--- 0.2% Black
--- 0.9% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
#46. Winnebago County
- Economic connectedness: 1.01
- Median Income: $56,578
- Population: 10,743
--- 93.8% white
--- 0.8% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 2.7% Asian
#45. Dubuque County
- Economic connectedness: 1.02
- Median Income: $68,198
- Population: 98,687
--- 91.2% white
--- 3% Black
--- 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1.3% Asian
Joel McCartan // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Kossuth County
- Economic connectedness: 1.02
- Median Income: $59,878
- Population: 14,823
--- 95.4% white
--- 0.5% Black
--- 0.7% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.5% Asian
#43. Poweshiek County
- Economic connectedness: 1.02
- Median Income: $56,080
- Population: 18,628
--- 92.4% white
--- 1.2% Black
--- 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 2.2% Asian
#42. Hancock County
- Economic connectedness: 1.02
- Median Income: $64,730
- Population: 10,837
--- 95.5% white
--- 1.2% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.3% Asian
SevenMaps // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Hardin County
- Economic connectedness: 1.02
- Median Income: $58,845
- Population: 16,997
--- 93.4% white
--- 1.1% Black
--- 1.6% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.8% Asian
IN Dancing Light // Shutterstock
11 / 50#40. Washington County
- Economic connectedness: 1.02
- Median Income: $66,908
- Population: 22,525
--- 92.6% white
--- 0.6% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.5% Asian
dustin77a // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Greene County
- Economic connectedness: 1.02
- Median Income: $52,768
- Population: 8,831
--- 94.9% white
--- 0.3% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.5% Asian
Kevin Isaacson // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Worth County
- Economic connectedness: 1.03
- Median Income: $63,795
- Population: 7,450
--- 95.2% white
--- 0.7% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.5% Asian
#37. Humboldt County
- Economic connectedness: 1.04
- Median Income: $60,008
- Population: 9,622
--- 95.5% white
--- 0.2% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.9% Asian
#36. Plymouth County
- Economic connectedness: 1.04
- Median Income: $74,239
- Population: 25,543
--- 93.6% white
--- 1.7% Black
--- 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#35. Shelby County
- Economic connectedness: 1.04
- Median Income: $62,222
- Population: 11,750
--- 95.7% white
--- 1.1% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
#34. Adair County
- Economic connectedness: 1.04
- Median Income: $57,944
- Population: 7,439
--- 97.1% white
--- 0.6% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.9% Asian
Jacob Boomsma // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Dallas County
- Economic connectedness: 1.05
- Median Income: $93,492
- Population: 96,604
--- 86.7% white
--- 2% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 4.5% Asian
Jacob Boomsma // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Chickasaw County
- Economic connectedness: 1.05
- Median Income: $67,146
- Population: 12,021
--- 97.4% white
--- 0.6% Black
--- 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
Joel McCartan // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. O'Brien County
- Economic connectedness: 1.05
- Median Income: $62,292
- Population: 14,139
--- 92.9% white
--- 1.6% Black
--- 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.7% Asian
Marsen // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Jones County
- Economic connectedness: 1.06
- Median Income: $63,279
- Population: 20,680
--- 93.6% white
--- 2.2% Black
--- 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.7% Asian
farmer doug // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Ida County
- Economic connectedness: 1.06
- Median Income: $57,266
- Population: 6,979
--- 95.7% white
--- 1.4% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.1% Asian
Jonathan Park // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Cherokee County
- Economic connectedness: 1.07
- Median Income: $59,881
- Population: 11,606
--- 93.4% white
--- 1.4% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
Joel McCartan // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Palo Alto County
- Economic connectedness: 1.07
- Median Income: $59,988
- Population: 8,996
--- 93.8% white
--- 1.5% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.5% Asian
#26. Marion County
- Economic connectedness: 1.07
- Median Income: $66,822
- Population: 33,381
--- 94.8% white
--- 1% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1.2% Asian
SevenMaps // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Howard County
- Economic connectedness: 1.07
- Median Income: $60,387
- Population: 9,456
--- 96.5% white
--- 0.3% Black
--- 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.2% Asian
Suzanne Tucker // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Audubon County
- Economic connectedness: 1.09
- Median Income: $54,643
- Population: 5,657
--- 96.2% white
--- 0.5% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0% Asian
#23. Harrison County
- Economic connectedness: 1.09
- Median Income: $67,950
- Population: 14,589
--- 97.1% white
--- 0.2% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.2% Asian
Daniel Novak // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Guthrie County
- Economic connectedness: 1.1
- Median Income: $67,625
- Population: 10,599
--- 95.1% white
--- 0.3% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.2% Asian
#21. Mills County
- Economic connectedness: 1.1
- Median Income: $77,926
- Population: 14,658
--- 96.5% white
--- 0.3% Black
--- 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.3% Asian
#20. Johnson County
- Economic connectedness: 1.1
- Median Income: $67,414
- Population: 151,833
--- 79.8% white
--- 7.2% Black
--- 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 6.1% Asian
Robert O Hull // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Calhoun County
- Economic connectedness: 1.1
- Median Income: $60,434
- Population: 9,962
--- 94.3% white
--- 1.6% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
Jacob Boomsma // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Carroll County
- Economic connectedness: 1.1
- Median Income: $61,157
- Population: 20,756
--- 94.1% white
--- 0.3% Black
--- 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.7% Asian
#17. Boone County
- Economic connectedness: 1.11
- Median Income: $70,984
- Population: 26,721
--- 95.6% white
--- 1.2% Black
--- 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.3% Asian
Designs2Rise // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Delaware County
- Economic connectedness: 1.11
- Median Income: $69,319
- Population: 17,508
--- 96.6% white
--- 0.1% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.3% Asian
#15. Iowa County
- Economic connectedness: 1.11
- Median Income: $64,720
- Population: 16,596
--- 95.7% white
--- 0.7% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.2% Asian
#14. Dickinson County
- Economic connectedness: 1.11
- Median Income: $65,215
- Population: 17,536
--- 95.4% white
--- 0.1% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.9% Asian
#13. Warren County
- Economic connectedness: 1.11
- Median Income: $85,189
- Population: 51,862
--- 94.9% white
--- 0.8% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.8% Asian
Arlen E Breiholz // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Clayton County
- Economic connectedness: 1.12
- Median Income: $58,148
- Population: 17,173
--- 96.6% white
--- 0.3% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.3% Asian
Doug Lambert // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Buchanan County
- Economic connectedness: 1.12
- Median Income: $71,024
- Population: 20,598
--- 96.9% white
--- 0.6% Black
--- 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.1% Asian
SevenMaps // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Benton County
- Economic connectedness: 1.12
- Median Income: $72,334
- Population: 25,654
--- 96% white
--- 0.3% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.3% Asian
SNC Art and More // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Cedar County
- Economic connectedness: 1.13
- Median Income: $72,714
- Population: 18,494
--- 96.8% white
--- 0.6% Black
--- 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.7% Asian
#8. Mitchell County
- Economic connectedness: 1.13
- Median Income: $60,991
- Population: 10,526
--- 97.4% white
--- 0.5% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.8% Asian
SevenMaps // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Butler County
- Economic connectedness: 1.16
- Median Income: $61,109
- Population: 14,421
--- 96.4% white
--- 0.5% Black
--- 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.8% Asian
#6. Madison County
- Economic connectedness: 1.16
- Median Income: $79,306
- Population: 16,414
--- 96.6% white
--- 0.9% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1% Asian
#5. Lyon County
- Economic connectedness: 1.17
- Median Income: $69,113
- Population: 11,953
--- 95.9% white
--- 0.1% Black
--- 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.6% Asian
Melissa L Oltman // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Grundy County
- Economic connectedness: 1.18
- Median Income: $74,552
- Population: 12,336
--- 97% white
--- 0.7% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.3% Asian
#3. Story County
- Economic connectedness: 1.18
- Median Income: $62,578
- Population: 98,106
--- 84.5% white
--- 2.3% Black
--- 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 7.6% Asian
April Taymen // Shutterstock
49 / 50#2. Bremer County
- Economic connectedness: 1.2
- Median Income: $76,782
- Population: 24,863
--- 94.8% white
--- 0.9% Black
--- 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1% Asian
#1. Winneshiek County
- Economic connectedness: 1.22
- Median Income: $65,330
- Population: 20,100
--- 95.8% white
--- 0.9% Black
--- 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.7% Asian
This story features data reporting and writing by Dom DiFurio and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 50 states.
