These mobility metrics data tables are designed to help local leaders in every county and over 450 cities in the United States measure the status of and progress toward increasing upward mobility and equity in their communities.
The Urban Institute's Upward Mobility Framework identifies five essential pillars that support mobility from poverty and a set of evidence-based predictors that are strongly correlated with the likelihood that a community can create conditions to boost the economic and social mobility of its residents while narrowing racial and ethnic inequities. These predictors were identified by an interdisciplinary group of experts and refined through testing with cross-sector partners. They cover diverse aspects of community, such as affordable housing, living-wage jobs, and political participation, and can be influenced by state and local policy.
Communities can use this suite of metrics along with the Planning Guide for Local Action as they work to develop a strategic plan for upward mobility and monitor progress over time.
For guidance on using the data tables, please watch our video tutorial or a recording of an interactive training.
Mobility Metrics Data
Select a county or city to explore your community’s mobility metrics.
Note: Data tables will open in a new tab. Data available for all counties in the U.S. and cities with population over 75,000.
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Updates
Updated June 30, 2023, with the following changes:
- The data sources for the “Access to preschool,” “Preparation for college,” and “Employment opportunities” data tables for counties and cities were corrected. The data on the “Summary” and “Detail” tabs are derived from the US Census Bureau’s 2021 1-Year American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample (via IPUMS), not the 2017–2021 5-Year American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample (via IPUMS), as previously listed.
- The data sources on the “More Data” tab for the “Access to preschool,” “Preparation for college,” and “Employment opportunities” data tables for cities were corrected to include the US Census Bureau’s 2018 and 2021 1-Year American Community Survey. The source was previously listed as only the 2017–2021 5-Year American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample (via IPUMS).
- In all data tables, the row label “Quality” was changed to “Data Quality” for clarity.
- Several changes were made to the “Housing affordability” data table:
- The wording of the metric was corrected to reflect that the calculated values indicate affordable housing only, not affordable and available housing.
- On the “Detail” tab, the table notes were updated to clarify the definition of affordability and what values below 100 suggest.
- On the “More Data” tab for counties, the source was corrected to the US Census Bureau’s 2018 and 2021 1-Year American Community Survey. The source was previously listed as the 2017–2021 5-Year American Community Survey.
- On the “Metrics Description” page (accessed via the “Visit here for more details about this predictor” link), the description of the “Housing affordability” metric was corrected to indicate that the metric does not account for availability of affordable units and to add information to the “Limitations” section.
Updated on May 24, 2023, to add a suggested citation.
Updated April 27, 2023
Future updates are expected in Spring 2024 and Spring 2025 that will incorporate forthcoming data and enhance the data tables’ interface.
Learn More
If you are interested in learning more about the Upward Mobility Framework and its development, please see Boosting Upward Mobility: Metrics to Inform Local Action, Second Edition and review our technical report. To learn more about the evidence informing the predictors, please visit the Evidence Resource Library.
The datasets used to populate these tables and more detailed documentation are available on Urban’s Data Catalog.
Suggested Citation
Solari, Claudia D., Aaron R. Williams, Gregory Acs, Lily Robin, Tina Chelidze, Gabriel Morrison, Vivian Zheng, et al. 2023. “Measuring Upward Mobility in Counties and Cities across the US.” Washington DC: Urban Institute.
Project Credits
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Claudia D. Solari, Aaron R. Williams, Gregory Acs, Lily Robin, Tina Chelidze, Gabriel Morrison, Vivian Zheng, Erika Tyagi, Kevin Werner, Paul Johnson, Jen Andre, Kassandra Martinchek, Emily Gutierrez, Vincent Pancini, Julia Long, Manuel Alcalá Kovalski, James Carter, Jung Hyun Choi, Ashlin Oglesby-Neal, Rebecca Marx, Amy Rogin, Keqin Wei, Alena Stern, Judah Axelrod, Keith Fudge, Bill Pitkin, Erica Blom, Emily M. Johnston, Nicole Dubois, Peace Gwam
DATA VISUALIZATION AND FRONT-END DESIGN/DEVELOPMENT
Patrick Walsh, Josh Miller, Aleszu Bajak, Jerry Ta, Deborah Fuzetto (Forum One)
WRITING AND EDITING
Alex Dallman, Lauren Lastowka, Mara Pellittieri, Katy Napotnik