Atlanta ranks last among the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas in upward economic mobility, according to a 2024 study led by Harvard economist Raj Chetty. The findings highlight a pressing challenge: children born into low-income families in Atlanta are less likely to improve their economic standing as adults compared to peers in other major cities. However, there is precedent for improvement—Charlotte, North Carolina, once held the same bottom position in Chetty’s 2014 analysis but rose to 38th place within a decade. n nAt the inaugural Atlanta Way Day on September 25, leaders and advocates gathered to discuss strategies for change. Sherri Chisholm, executive director of Charlotte’s Leading on Opportunity, shared insights into her city’s progress. The organization coordinates efforts across five key areas of community wellness, adopting a holistic strategy to enhance individual opportunity pathways. n nEconomic mobility, as defined by experts, involves more than income growth—it encompasses access to quality education, stable housing, healthcare, transportation, and social networks. Mike Carnathan, co-founder of Neighborhood Nexus, described it as a generational process: after securing basic needs, individuals can pursue education and build social capital through expanded experiences and relationships. Advancement continues with securing well-paying jobs, living in resource-rich neighborhoods, and ultimately accumulating wealth to pass on to future generations. n nChetty’s Opportunity Insights project tracked children from low-income backgrounds, comparing their adult earnings to those of their parents 27 years later. While this research provides a critical benchmark, local leaders stress the need for more frequent progress assessments. Chisholm emphasized that communities cannot rely solely on external studies: “We need to figure out how to hold ourselves accountable and measure ourselves.” n nTo this end, Charlotte developed an “opportunity compass” to monitor progress across specific indicators every two to three years. This tool helps determine whether initiatives are moving in a positive direction and serves as a guide for investors and program developers. n nCollaboration across sectors is essential. Anna Roach, CEO of the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), called for public acknowledgment of the issue and a collective commitment to solutions. The ARC, which is 95 percent federally funded, uses data to guide long-term planning in workforce development, housing, and transportation. n nFrank Fernandez of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta described economic mobility as a unifying theme that connects various social challenges. Milton Little of United Way of Greater Atlanta partnered with Neighborhood Nexus to create a Child Well-Being Index, offering a shared metric for organizations working with youth and families. n nAtlanta Way 2.0 continues to mobilize citizens and leaders through workshops and data-sharing initiatives, urging broader civic engagement to address systemic barriers. n— news from SaportaReport
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What’s the deal with economic mobility? And why does Atlanta rank last?
By Oli Turner, Atlanta Way 2.0 Journalism Fellow n nIn Atlanta, leaders and concerned citizens are uniting over a troubling statistic. Atlanta ranks 50th out of 50 U.S. metropolitan areas in upward economic mobility, according to a 2024 study by Harvard Economics professor Raj Chetty. If that strikes you as grim, it is—but Atlantans may find hope in Charlotte, N.C.’s story. Chetty’s first study in 2014 ranked Charlotte 50th, and in just 10 years, Charlotte jumped to 38th on the same scale. n nFor Atlantans concerned about the status of their own metro area, Charlotte’s success story may provide a path forward. But first, it’s crucial to understand what economic mobility might look like here in Atlanta and identify an index to measure it with. n nThe nonprofit Atlanta Way 2.0 held its inaugural Atlanta Way Day on Thursday, Sept. 25 to facilitate conversations among thought leaders, experts, and champions for a better Atlanta. Sherri Chisholm, executive director of Charlotte’s nonprofit Leading on Opportunity, delivered a keynote address outlining methods Charlotte used to improve its standing. Leading on Opportunity unites organizers across five key wellness areas, taking a systemic approach to improving the opportunity trajectories of individuals in Charlotte. n nHow do we measure economic mobility? n nEconomic mobility is a complex metric combining a range of lifestyle factors. The term is inherently abstract, which is why it’s important for each city to develop its own shared civic vocabulary around the topic. n n“When it comes to doing the work of economic mobility, you have to look at the constellation of things that makes a life a good life for someone—so that’s everything from education to workforce to housing to grocery stores,” Sherri Chisholm said. n nNeighborhood Nexus Co-founder Mike Carnathan described upward economic mobility as a generational journey. After meeting basic needs like stable housing, food, healthcare, and transportation, he said, the next factors in economic mobility are quality education and social capital, which one can build by forming new interpersonal connections and having experiences outside of their socioeconomic status. n nThe next tier of the economic ladder might be acquiring a quality job with benefits that allows you to live in a thriving neighborhood with ample resources. The final level of mobility is the ability to build wealth and pass it onto the next generation, Carnathan explained. n nRaj Chetty’s Opportunity Insights study followed the outcomes of children born in low-income families, comparing their parents’ economic position to the children’s economic position as adults 27 years later. While Chetty’s study is a cornerstone for efforts toward economic mobility—and a galvanizing force for concerned citizens—communities need more frequent checkpoints in order to evaluate their progress. n n“Chetty’s not coming to save us,” Chisholm said. “We need to figure out how to hold ourselves accountable and measure ourselves.” n nChisholm explained Charlotte’s use of an “opportunity compass” to measure economic mobility progress across specific determinants over two or three years. n n“It tells if we’re working in a positive or negative direction and helps us make adjustments along the way,” Chisholm said. “It also serves as a North Star for folks who want to either invest or provide programming in that work.” n nChisholm is adamant that the work towards improving economic mobility is a gradual and simultaneous effort. Instead of tackling one area at a time, cities should unite leaders from all sectors that contribute to economic mobility and collaborate to effect calibrated change. n nThe Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) oversees long-range planning for metro Atlanta, identifying which investments will be necessary over the next 30 to 50 years to accommodate the area’s growth. The ARC is 95% federally funded. The organization uses data to make projections for the region’s future and invest government funding in workforce development, housing and transportation goals, and other initiatives the data has identified to help the city prosper. n nA collective consciousness n nSpeakers on the keynote Upward Economic Mobility Panel underscored the importance of developing a shared understanding of economic mobility and a shared feeling of responsibility to help improve it. n n“It’s a unifying theme that touches across multiple issues that we care about,” said Frank Fernandez, president and CEO of Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. n n“We need to lean into how we work together,” Fernandez said. “I think we have a good example of that here in the city of Atlanta around housing. The mayor talks about the city and housing as a group project, really underscoring the importance of how we collaborate across sectors with each other to move the needle.” n nChampions of upward economic mobility can look to United Way of Greater Atlanta’s Child Well-Being Index as a model for developing a collective consciousness around an issue. United Way President Milton Little partnered with data nonprofit Neighborhood Nexus to create an indicator for child well-being outcomes. n n“There are dozens and dozens and dozens of organizations out there, all of them doing work focused on kids, everybody measuring things differently, no collective measure of success,” Little said. “We want it to be used by everybody who’s working in the children, youth, family, community space so that we all have a common set of measures and a common endpoint against which we can look at our efforts and think about what the cumulative impact of all of these efforts is.” n nARC Executive Director and CEO Anna Roach advocated for a process of public acknowledgement and commitment around upward economic mobility in Atlanta. n n“It starts with an open admission that there is a problem, and then an open and public commitment to solve it,” Roach said. “We know how to reach people in Georgia, across the country, and across the world. We know how to make explicit what our intentions are. And so if we wanted to do that as a city, as a county, and as a region, we could.” n nNote to current and future Activators: A call to action! n nAtlanta Way 2.0 pledges to continue the work of convening interested citizens and leaders around this topic. We hope you will join the movement to improve outcomes for our residents in several ways: n nBecome an Atlanta Way 2.0 Activator: https://www.atlantaway.org/become-an-activator n nSubscribe to Neighborhood Nexus economic mobility data updates: https://neighborhoodnexus.org/atl-econ-mobility/ n nVolunteer to host an economic mobility workshop in November or January. Email Britton Edwards. n nThis year, Atlanta Way 2.0 and SaportaReport are partnering on an initiative to strengthen the civic fabric of greater Atlanta through journalism. We have a new Fellow, Oli Turner, who will share their journey here in our weekly column.