Geography is a Key Factor in Determining one's Financial Success

[bjl584]

Achieving the 'American dream?' A lot of it depends on where you grow up (cnbc.com)

[disneysteve]

This is old news. Many studies have documented this previously. Your birth zip code has a huge impact on your life.

I've said before that for 17 years I practiced in one of the poorest cities in America. My office was about 8 miles from my house but it may as well have been in another country because the two areas are so dramatically different. Someone growing up in my town has a huge advantage over someone growing up in that town even though the two are just a few minutes apart.

I just looked at current stats. Median household income in my town: $107,341. Median household income in the town where my office was: $30,247. If you don't believe that that makes a difference in someone's odds of success in life, you're delusional.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Oh i read it's where you were born. My birth zip code is is $28k.

My kids? $53k one of the highest.

Where we currently live $44k. hmmm....i had my suspicions.

[Fishindude77]

I was curious, it's just a little over $51k in my zip code.
Median house price $149k

[ua_guy]

I'm glad a CNBC brief has confirmed years of ongoing research.

Here are a couple of select quotes pulled from the article.

“One of the biggest equalizers, or mobility-enhancing policies, that you can do is to you provide good-quality education without a burden of debt,” said Juan Palomino, a research scholar at Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

“College is much more expensive than it used to be, but it remains [about] the single best investment most people can make,” said Friedman.