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
- Economic connectedness: 0.8
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.8
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.81
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.81
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.81
- Median Income: $57,055
- Population: 44,458
--- 90.8% white
--- 5.2% Black
--- 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
The American Explorer // Shutterstock
6 / 50#45. Lawrence County
- Economic connectedness: 0.81
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.82
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.82
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.82
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.82
- Median Income: $57,497
- Population: 36,248
--- 93% white
--- 3% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
#40. Forest County
- Economic connectedness: 0.83
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.83
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.84
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.84
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.84
- Median Income: $57,551
- Population: 31,037
--- 96.7% white
--- 0.7% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
Bennekom // Shutterstock
16 / 50#35. Schuylkill County
- Economic connectedness: 0.84
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.85
- Median Income: $54,596
- Population: 47,729
--- 96.9% white
--- 0.8% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
George Sheldon // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Lycoming County
- Economic connectedness: 0.85
- Median Income: $58,177
- Population: 114,274
--- 90.4% white
--- 4.9% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.8% Asian
Walt Bilous // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Juniata County
- Economic connectedness: 0.85
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.86
- Median Income: $66,329
- Population: 155,592
--- 90.1% white
--- 3.7% Black
--- 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.8% Asian
Mark Rust // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Indiana County
- Economic connectedness: 0.86
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.86
- Median Income: $59,391
- Population: 38,892
--- 96.7% white
--- 0.6% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
Orlowski Designs LLC // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Beaver County
- Economic connectedness: 0.87
- Median Income: $62,152
- Population: 168,260
--- 89% white
--- 6% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.5% Asian
Alejandro Guzmani // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Fulton County
- Economic connectedness: 0.88
- Median Income: $58,343
- Population: 14,529
--- 95.6% white
--- 1.4% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
Rusty Lofgren // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Armstrong County
- Economic connectedness: 0.88
- Median Income: $56,838
- Population: 65,967
--- 96.9% white
--- 1% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.3% Asian
#25. Delaware County
- Economic connectedness: 0.88
- Median Income: $80,398
- Population: 573,883
--- 66.6% white
--- 21.8% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 6% Asian
ESB Professional // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Allegheny County
- Economic connectedness: 0.88
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.88
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.89
- Median Income: $73,688
- Population: 550,480
--- 86% white
--- 4% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 2.4% Asian
#21. Wyoming County
- Economic connectedness: 0.89
- Median Income: $62,795
- Population: 26,389
--- 95.5% white
--- 1% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.4% Asian
Nick Shoe // Shutterstock
31 / 50#20. Snyder County
- Economic connectedness: 0.89
- Median Income: $62,951
- Population: 39,877
--- 95.6% white
--- 1% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.6% Asian
#19. Columbia County
- Economic connectedness: 0.9
- Median Income: $55,572
- Population: 65,013
--- 94.2% white
--- 1.7% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1% Asian
#18. Sullivan County
- Economic connectedness: 0.91
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.92
- Median Income: $68,787
- Population: 209,090
--- 92.2% white
--- 3.4% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1% Asian
#16. Westmoreland County
- Economic connectedness: 0.92
- Median Income: $64,708
- Population: 355,107
--- 93.6% white
--- 2.3% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1% Asian
#15. Union County
- Economic connectedness: 0.92
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.94
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.95
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.97
- Median Income: $77,103
- Population: 311,359
--- 81% white
--- 6% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 2.9% Asian
#11. Adams County
- Economic connectedness: 0.97
- Median Income: $72,492
- Population: 103,782
--- 92.2% white
--- 1.6% Black
--- 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 0.8% Asian
Alizada Studios // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Wayne County
- Economic connectedness: 0.97
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.98
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 0.99
- Median Income: $77,001
- Population: 257,333
--- 85.9% white
--- 4.2% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 4.8% Asian
Sabrina Janelle Gordon // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Butler County
- Economic connectedness: 1.01
- Median Income: $77,065
- Population: 192,561
--- 94.9% white
--- 1% Black
--- 0% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1.3% Asian
LittleKitty // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Chester County
- Economic connectedness: 1.01
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 1.04
- Median Income: $71,360
- Population: 58,345
--- 84.7% white
--- 6.3% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 1.5% Asian
Scenic Corner // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Montour County
- Economic connectedness: 1.05
- Median Income: $64,858
- Population: 18,198
--- 92% white
--- 2% Black
--- 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native
--- 3.5% Asian
#3. Montgomery County
- Economic connectedness: 1.05
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 1.08
- 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
- Economic connectedness: 1.09
- 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.
