The interactive map is an amazing "infographic". What's interesting to me is the big band stretching from Duluth, MN to Midland, TX that's the most "upwardly mo

The interactive map is an amazing "infographic". What's interesting to me is the big band stretching from Duluth, MN to Midland, TX that's the most "upwardly mobile" for essentially all income classes. An important note, though: While this data is useful for relative measurements, the absolute gain or loss in income % is less meaningful. For one thing, they're comparing ~30-yo's today to their parents in the "late '90s". Let's say I was 32 in 2012, and we compare my income with my parents' in 1998. In 1998, I would have been 18, which would mean my parents were likely at least 38, and had a few more prime years of earnings growth racked up. Relatedly, my understanding is that there is a long-term trend towards later earnings years, tied to more professional and graduate education. Today's 30-yo just graduating from medical or business school might be primed to make great money later even if their parents were making more at age 30. Just fascinating data.