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Upward Mobility of Low-Income Youth in Metropolitan, Micropolitan, and Rural America

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  • Bruce A. Weber
  • J. Matthew Fannin
  • Sam M. Cordes
  • Thomas G. Johnson

Abstract

We analyze county-level social, demographic, and economic data in U.S. counties to explore how economic mobility in the United States varies across the geography of the rural-urban interface. We reveal that micropolitan areas—small and medium urban centers—appear to play a unique role in the geography of intergenerational economic mobility. Micropolitan areas help to define the blurred boundaries of the new rural-urban interface, and play a unique and potentially powerful role in supporting the upward mobility of low-income youth. In some geographic areas, micropolitan counties serve as cores of nonmetropolitan America, supporting upward mobility in ways that take advantage of their density and scale. In other domains, they are relatively low-density transition zones between remote noncore rural counties and metropolitan America, supporting upward mobility of low-income youth in ways that exploit the opportunities and reveal weaknesses associated with nonmetropolitan small size, lack of density, and limited technological capacity.

Suggested Citation

  • Bruce A. Weber & J. Matthew Fannin & Sam M. Cordes & Thomas G. Johnson, 2017. "Upward Mobility of Low-Income Youth in Metropolitan, Micropolitan, and Rural America," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 672(1), pages 103-122, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:672:y:2017:i:1:p:103-122
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716217713477
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Miles Corak, 2013. "Income Inequality, Equality of Opportunity, and Intergenerational Mobility," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(3), pages 79-102, Summer.
    2. Rupasingha, Anil & Goetz, Stephan J. & Freshwater, David, 2006. "The production of social capital in US counties," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 83-101, February.
    3. Raj Chetty & Nathaniel Hendren & Patrick Kline & Emmanuel Saez, 2014. "Where is the land of Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(4), pages 1553-1623.
    4. Auten, Gerald & Gee, Geoffrey, 2009. "Income Mobility in the United States: New Evidence From Income Tax Data," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 62(2), pages 301-328, June.
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    1. repec:osf:socarx:nkydt_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
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    3. Dylan S Connor & Aleksander K BergArizona & Tom Kemeny & Peter J Kedron, 2024. "Who gets left behind by left behind places?," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 17(1), pages 37-58.
    4. Daniel T. Lichter & Kenneth M. Johnson, 2021. "Opportunity and Place: Latino Children and America’s Future," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 696(1), pages 20-45, July.

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