Austin sees rising income mobility
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Americans born to low-income families are faring worse than the last generation in most major U.S. cities — although a few Texas cities, including Austin, buck the national trend — per a new Harvard University analysis.
Why it matters: Intergenerational mobility — the idea that you'll do better than your parents, your children will do better than you, and so on — is core to the American dream.
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, per an analysis from the U.S. Census Bureau and Opportunity Insights, a research group at Harvard.
- But Brownsville and Austin took the No. 1 and No. 2 spots for improvements in income among those born to low-income families.
What they did: Researchers compared the average household income at age 27 for Americans born into low-income families in 1978 and 1992 to get a localized picture of changing opportunities over time.
What they found: In Austin, people born to low-income parents in 1992 made $31,554 at 27, up from $29,643 for people born in 1978. That's a pay increase of 6.5% adjusted to 2023 dollars.
- Brownsville saw the biggest increase across generations: Those born in 1992 made $33,500 at age 27, compared to $31,400 for those born in 1978. The pay increased 6.7%, adjusted to 2023 dollars.
Zoom in: Researchers found that children are better off economically when they grow up in a neighborhood where more adults have jobs.
- "Outcomes improve across birth cohorts for children who grow up in communities with increasing parental employment rates, with larger effects for children who move to such communities at younger ages," the researchers say.
Reality check: The living wage for an individual in the Austin area is $23.98 per hour — or an annual salary of nearly $50,000.
Zoom out: Dallas, San Antonio and Houston residents born to low-income families saw their income increase slightly.
- Fort Worth was the only Texas city analyzed by researchers where pay decreased. Those born to low-income parents in 1992 made $31,400 at 27, down from $31,900 for people born in 1978.
Go deeper: You can explore the researchers' work at the Opportunity Atlas, an interactive tool in which the data can be sliced by income levels, gender, race and more.