The Census Bureau has long provided data that give a snapshot of neighborhood characteristics at a given time. These data have proven valuable for economic and social research for decades. However, these snapshots don’t allow the direct study of social mobility.

“We’re excited that the Census Bureau can provide the public with access to social mobility estimates for the first time through the Opportunity Atlas,” said Ron Jarmin, Deputy Director, and Performing the Non-Exclusive Functions and Duties of the Director of the Census Bureau. “The Atlas has great social significance because no one has ever had access to social mobility estimates at such a granular level.”

The Opportunity Atlas was constructed using data on 20 million Americans who are in their mid-thirties today. The data were stripped of personal information and statistically protected.

The Census Bureau has been increasing its use of administrative records in data collection.

“But now, after using modern data protection methods, the Census Bureau is able to provide all data users with access to our rich data that combines census and administrative records,” Jarmin said.

To build the Opportunity Atlas, these individuals were first mapped back to the Census tract in which they grew up. On average, 4,200 people live in a single tract.

For each of the 70,000 tracts in America, the Opportunity Atlas estimates children’s average earnings, incarceration rates, teen birth rates, and a variety of other outcomes by their parental income level, race and ethnicity, and gender.