Where you live affects your access to opportunity -- and this can be mapped.

Opportunity mapping is an analytical tool that deepens our understanding of "opportunity" dynamics within regions.  The goal of opportunity mapping is to identify opportunity-rich and opportunity isolated communities.  With a basic understanding of the geography of opportunity we can then better determine who has access to opportunity resources and how to remedy opportunity inequality.  Mapping can help guide community investments and help people in historically disenfranchised groups connect to areas that are thriving.  Often the designation of a community as lower opportunity, or opportunity-isolated, is a reflection of the history of discriminatory policy and disinvestment in those communities.

Opportunity in Connecticut was originally mapped by the Kirwan Institute in a 2009 report commissioned by the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, and subsequently updated by Open Communities Alliance in 2015 and 2020. Special thanks to the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, Diversity Data Kids and the Othering and Belonging Institute for their consultation on our updated methodology.

To learn more about the methodology and underlying Census data, click here.