The Opportunity Atlas answers this question using anonymous data following 20 million Americans from childhood to their mid-30s.

Now you can trace the roots of today's affluence and poverty back to the neighborhoods where people grew up.

See where and for whom opportunity has been missing, and develop local solutions to help more children rise out of poverty.

Our estimates show the average outcomes in adulthood of people who grew up in each Census tract (small geographic units containing about 4,000 people) and were born between 1978 and 1983. Importantly, many children move to different areas in adulthood, but we always map the data by where children grew up, regardless of where they live as adults. For example, a child who grew up in a tract in Minneapolis but moved to New York as an adult would still be included in the data for his or her childhood tract in Minneapolis.

The data provide information on the average actual outcomes of children who grew up in each area. Each estimate is specific to a selected group of children from each tract, defined by their race, gender, and parental income level. For instance, one estimate might look at the outcomes in adulthood for black men who grew up in low-income families in a specific tract.