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