By George W. Hammond, Ph.D.
Director and Research Professor, EBRC
September 22, 2017
Everyone knows that an individual’s education is highly correlated with income. This is also true for states, cities, and even neighborhoods. The latest data from the Census Bureau (for 2015) lets us explore the correlation between four-year college attainment rates and income levels for Arizona’s neighborhoods (Census tracts). As you might expect, neighborhoods with more highly educated residents also tend to have higher income levels. For metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), these correlations reflect not just the fact that highly educated individuals get paid more, but also the fact that cities with more highly educated residents are more productive, innovative, and competitive.
EBRC research economist Alan Hoogasian has built a new interactive map which allows you to explore this relationship in your community. Be sure to interact with the map! Choose the data you are interested in exploring, then click on the map and it will pop up a box with the underlying data. You can also zoom in on Phoenix, Tucson, or any county in the state. Use the map tools to view results for custom combinations of Census tracts.
Want to know more about Arizona’s trends in income and education? Check out Ranking Arizona: Income and the Quality of Life, Losing Ground: Arizona’s Long-Run Per Capita Personal Income Trends, and Troubling Trends in Arizona’s College Attainment Rate.
