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  • Axios Salt Lake City

    In Utah, the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer

    By Erin AlbertyAlex Fitzpatrick,

    3 days ago

    Data: The Opportunity Atlas ; Note: Ranking measured by percentage change in income, adjusted to 2023 dollars; Chart: Axios Visuals

    Salt Lake millennials born to low-income families have lost economic ground compared to their Gen X predecessors, a new analysis finds.

    Why it matters: Intergenerational mobility — the idea that you'll do better than your parents — is core to the American dream, but is far from a guarantee.


    What they did: A new analysis from the Census Bureau and Opportunity Insights , a research group at Harvard University, measured intergenerational mobility at the county level.

    • Researchers compared the average household income at age 27 for Americans born to low-income families in both 1978 and 1992 to get a localized picture of changing opportunities over time.

    By the numbers: In the Salt Lake metro, people born in 1992 made $34,900 at age 27, compared to $36,400 for those born in 1978 (adjusted to 2023 dollars).

    • That's a drop of 4.2%, the same as the nationwide drop.

    Zoom out: The Provo metro is the only one in Utah where the younger generation's income improved over their elders.

    • Vernal saw the sharpest drop, with the 1992 cohort making 28% less than those born in 1978, the report shows .

    Yes, but: People from wealthier families fared far better, with the younger generation earning more than their elders in every metro except Vernal.

    Meanwhile, Utahns of color from low-income families made generational gains in almost every Utah metro with enough data to analyze.

    Between the lines: Younger Utahns of color still made less than younger white Utahns because the initial disparities were so large.

    The big picture: In 38 of the 50 biggest U.S. metro areas, Americans born to low-income families in 1992 were doing worse at age 27 than those born in 1978 at that age.

    The bottom line: Changes affecting one generation quickly affect the next, the researchers say, and "thereby generate rapid changes in economic mobility."

    • "While this carries hope for how opportunity can improve, it also comes with some caution, as communities can experience declining opportunity in a similar timeframe."
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