New Jersey is one of the best states for employment growth and opportunity, according to the first-ever state-by-state analysis of Americans’ economic mobility.

Economic mobility
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The analysis from The Pew Charitable Trusts found New Jersey performed better than the national average on all three economic mobility measures – average earnings growth over time, movement up the earnings ladder, and movement down the ladder. Only two other states, New York and Maryland, had that distinction.

In other words, increasing earnings is more promising for New Jersey residents when compared to people in most other states. Conversely, moving down the earnings ladder is easier in most other states than it is in New Jersey.

“This really shows that where you live really matters for economic mobility,” explained Diana Elliott, research manager of the Economic Mobility Project at the Pew Charitable Trusts. “It shows that there is not equality of opportunity across the states.”

While Elliott could not offer specific reasons why certain states perform better than others, she said drivers of mobility on the national level include education, residents’ savings and assets, and the level of neighborhood poverty that people experience during childhood.

The study investigated Americans’ mobility prospects during their prime working years, the 10-year span between ages 35-39 and 45-49. The research focused on individuals born between 1943 and 1958, with the most recent data coming from 2007.

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