Where You Live Matters

Where you live affects your access to resources like thriving schools, safe streets, and healthy food (for more information, click here).  Unfortunately, in Connecticut, all too often zip code determines destiny.  The state has great outcome gaps by race, ethnicity and income in outcomes such as education, health, incarceration, and employment.  All of these can be traced back to a fundamental “opportunity gap” based on the geographic availability of opportunity.

It is critical to understand opportunity in this way because neighborhood opportunity has a deep impact on the potential for individuals and families to thrive.  Neighborhood opportunity shapes education, health, and career outcomes.  For example, recent research from Harvard scholar Raj Chetty reveals that a child in a low-income family who moves before age 8 to a high opportunity area will earn $302,000 more over the span of his lifetime than if he had stayed in a lower opportunity area.

 Connecticut is Segregated

The deep levels of racial, ethnic and economic segregation in Connecticut define its geographical landscape. Connecticut is one of the most racially and ethnically segregated states in the country, with 67% of the state’s population of color living in 8% of the towns.  Put another way, 93.5% of the land area of the state is disproportionately White (72% White or greater), while 5.8% of the land area of the state is disproportionately minority (30% minority or greater).

 In Connecticut, People of Color Earn Half of What Whites Earn

On average, Black families earn 55% of what White families earn, Hispanic families earn 44%, and Asian families earn 97%.

 Affordable Housing is Key...

As a result, Blacks and Hispanics have a much greater need for affordable housing than Whites or Asians.

 ...But it’s Segregated

		More information on Connecticut's LIHTC program is available here