Where growing up led to higher adult earnings
This uses the Opportunity Atlas, which followed children who grew up in each census tract and recorded what they earned as adults around age 35. It ranks areas by the average adult income rank of children raised there, weighted 70%, together with the share who reached the top fifth of the national income distribution, weighted 30%.
It is the only measure here that describes people rather than places, and it describes them in the past tense. The cohort was born between 1978 and 1983, so this is a record of how a place worked out for children raised there in the 1980s and 1990s.
Same weighting, on a map of all 7,644 areas, where you can change the balance and see every measure behind a place.
Highest adult outcomes for children raised there
Mean score across every measured cell in each neighborhood, ranked against 263 neighborhoods. Names carried by fewer than three measured cells are left out, as are the cluster names this project invented where no established neighborhood name existed.
| # | Neighborhood | Mobility score | Median rent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwood Point | 99 | $3,075/mo |
| 2 | Woodbury | 99 | $3,400/mo |
| 3 | Turtle Rock | 98 | $3,475/mo |
| 4 | Northwood | 98 | $3,075/mo |
| 5 | La Cañada Flintridge | 97 | $3,050/mo |
| 6 | Westlake Village | 95 | $3,225/mo |
| 7 | Agoura Hills | 95 | $3,500/mo |
| 8 | Topanga | 92 | $3,350/mo |
| 9 | Oak Creek | 92 | $2,975/mo |
| 10 | La Crescenta-Montrose | 92 | $2,350/mo |
| 11 | El Camino Real | 92 | $2,750/mo |
| 12 | Westpark | 92 | $2,625/mo |
| 13 | Cypress Village | 92 | $3,100/mo |
| 14 | Woodbridge | 91 | $2,925/mo |
| 15 | Playa del Rey | 90 | $2,800/mo |
| 16 | UCI Area | 89 | $2,450/mo |
| 17 | Lower Peters Canyon | 88 | $3,025/mo |
| 18 | Calabasas | 88 | $3,375/mo |
| 19 | Rolling Hills Estates | 88 | $2,975/mo |
| 20 | Walnut | 86 | $3,050/mo |
| 21 | Porter Ranch | 86 | $3,450/mo |
| 22 | Palos Verdes Estates | 86 | $3,075/mo |
| 23 | East San Gabriel | 84 | $2,200/mo |
| 24 | Diamond Bar | 83 | $2,575/mo |
| 25 | Rancho Palos Verdes | 82 | $2,950/mo |
Read this alongside the redlining comparison, which shows the same pattern from the other direction. Tracts with fewer than 20 children in the sample are left out rather than shown as precise.
Use this data
Free to reuse with credit, including commercially.
How this is measured
- Economic mobility 100%. Opportunity Atlas (Chetty et al., 2018): adult outcomes at ~age 35 for children raised in the tract, cohort born 1978-1983
Every measure is a percentile rank from 0 to 100 against all 7,644 populated cells in Los Angeles and Orange County, so a score describes how an area compares within the region rather than against a national baseline. This lens scores 7,638 of them. Block-group figures are blended onto the grid by distance-weighted nearest centroids.
Data compiled 2026-08-20, methodology v1. Free to reuse with credit under CC BY 4.0; place counts come from OpenStreetMap and carry share-alike. Full terms, column definitions and limitations are on the data page.
Other ways to read the index
- Compare two places side by side
Every measure at once for up to four areas, each drawn against the whole region.
- Where rent goes furthest
Neighborhoods across LA and Orange County ranked by median rent against every other area in the region, using ACS block-group data.
- Cheap rent without needing a car
Neighborhoods in LA and Orange County that combine low rent with walkable streets and transit access, ranked from block-group and EPA walkability data.
- Low rent and clean air together
Where lower rent overlaps with cleaner air in LA and Orange County, using CalEnviroScreen diesel particulate and traffic data alongside ACS rents.
- Tree cover, clean air, little traffic
LA and Orange County neighborhoods ranked on air quality, traffic exposure and tree canopy, from CalEnviroScreen and national land-cover data.
- Plenty nearby, easy to get around
LA and Orange County neighborhoods ranked on restaurants, cafes, groceries and parks nearby combined with walkability and transit access.
- Where home prices go furthest
LA and Orange County neighborhoods ranked by ACS median home value, showing where buying costs least relative to the rest of the region.
- The areas with no affordable escape from pollution
LA and Orange County areas where high environmental exposure coincides with high rent burden, combining CalEnviroScreen with ACS rent-to-income data.
- Where police report the fewest incidents
LA and Orange County neighborhoods ranked by police-reported violent and property incident rates, from LAPD, LA County Sheriff and CA DOJ records.