Does your region rank high in opportunity? ISP Partner Opportunity Nation’s Updated Opportunity Index

WCCCD’s Institute for Social Progress is one of twelve institutions on the higher education council of Opportunity Nation, a bipartisan and cross-sector national campaign working to expand economic opportunity and close the opportunity gap in America.

The Opportunity Index provides a snapshot of what opportunity looks like at state and county levels, using more than a dozen data points around such buckets as jobs and the economy, education and community health and civic life to give a comprehensive view of each region. The guiding principle of all participating in the campaign is that the zip code you’re born into shouldn’t determine your lifetime chances for success.

The group recently updated their Opportunity Report. Among the findings:

“The strongest indicator of opportunity continues to be youth academic and economic inclusion.  Areas with higher numbers of young adults engaged in an education program or gainfully employed have higher opportunity scores, while areas with large numbers of disconnected youth have lower opportunity scores.  The rate of disconnected youth increased in 28 states and 57 percent of counties measured.

• From 2011 to 2012, more states and counties have shown improvement than those sliding backwards.  36 states saw an increase in their Opportunity Score, while 14 saw a decline.  Only Pennsylvania’s score stayed the same.  At the county level, nearly 40 percent counties increased their score, while 47 percent held steady and 13 percent declined.
• Income is not a leading factor in determining overall opportunity.  The top three states on the Index – Vermont, North Dakota, and Minnesota – rank 21st, 24th, and 13th respectively in terms of average income per capita.
• Education continues to play a leading role in advancing opportunity.  While three-quarters of nation’s high school freshmen graduate in four years, the bottom three states on the Index — New Mexico, Mississippi, and Nevada – have less than half of high school students graduate on time.

Visit www.opportunityindex.org for the complete report and to check out whether your area improved since 2011.