CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On Friday, top leaders in Charlotte’s private sector held a forum on how to improve upward mobility in the Queen City.
Ten years ago, Charlotte ranked last among 50 cities in economic mobility. It now ranks 38th, ahead of Atlanta and Raleigh, but leaders say there’s still a lot of work to do.
The rankings come from the "Changing Opportunity" report, often called the Chetty Study. The economist behind the study, Dr. Raj Chetty, came to Uptown on Friday to present his latest findings which were published in July 2024, and discussed strategies for change.
Chetty's research shows Charlotte is seeing improvements and closing its racial gap, but there is still a huge disparity between Black and white populations.
“Black kids are rising into the middle class, or the lower-middle class, getting out of poverty, starting to find jobs at higher rates than before," Chetty told reporters. "Unfortunately, for white kids growing up in lower-income families, those numbers are going the opposite direction.”
The 2014 report studied the tax returns of people born in 1978 and found children born in poverty in Charlotte were likely to stay in poverty into adulthood.
The updated study analyzed people born in 1992. It found the U.S. is narrowing racial gaps in economic mobility, but a large disparity for minorities remains. It also found that class gaps are expanding.
For Charlotte specifically, the 2024 study shows Black children in low-income families are showing progression in getting out of poverty, but white children in poverty had no improvement. Chetty said most other cities saw a decline in poor white children's economic mobility.
He added that research shows improvements for Black populations do not take opportunities away from white people.
"When one group does better, the other one does as well," Chetty said.
The findings impact policy decisions and how taxpayer dollars are spent. For example, following the 2014 study that ranked Charlotte last, the city doubled its affordable housing trust fund.
“I think it was really a rallying cry for Charlotte," said Andrea Smith, the interim CEO for the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance. "People were shocked we were 50 out of 50."
Leading on Opportunity, a nonprofit created in response to the 2014 Chetty study, plans to continue the momentum of change.
"Folks still need housing, they need jobs, they need quality education," said executive director Sherri Chisolm.
She said identifying programs that need expansion and investment will be key.
"How can we continue to grow efforts like the 2040 Plan, like the county’s commitment to Pre-K, such that we have things institutionalized into the way we fund and approach work," Chisolm asked.
Her next step is to bring this data to city and county leaders to help them shape policy and funding recommendations.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.