Our Work

Building Bright Futures in Greater Houston

Broad Recovery, Persistent Inequity: Youth Disconnection in America

Broad Recovery, Persistent Inequity presents 2022 youth disconnection rates for the United States as a whole as well as by gender, race and ethnicity, region, state, metro area, and congressional district.

A Portrait of Newark

A Portrait of Newark is an extensive study of well-being across race, place, and gender, and youth disconnection across Newark, New Jersey.

Ensuring an Equitable Recovery: Addressing Covid-19’s Impact on Education

Ensuring an Equitable Recovery presents 2021 youth disconnection rates for the United States as a whole as well as by gender, race and ethnicity, region, state, metro area, and congressional district.

Youth Disconnection in The Rapides Foundation Service Area, 2023

Youth Disconnection in The Rapides Foundation Service Area 2023 provides an in-depth look at youth disconnection in The Rapides Foundation Service Area (TRFSA, which includes parishes in Central Louisiana).

Well-Being in Rural California

Well-Being in Rural California 2023 is a study of well-being across race, place, and gender.

Spotlight on Del Norte County

The Spotlight on Del Norte County is an extensive study of county-wide well-being across race, place, and gender.

Spotlight on Mendocino County

The Spotlight on Mendocino County is an extensive study of county-wide well-being across race, place, and gender.

Spotlight on the Inland Empire

The Spotlight on the Inland Empire is an extensive study of well-being across race, place, and gender in Riverside County and San Bernardino County.

A Portrait of the Valley

A Portrait of the Valley is an extensive study of well-being across race, place, and gender across the San Joaquin Valley.

Spotlight on Del Norte County & Spotlight on Mendocino County

Spotlight on Del Norte County and Spotlight on Mendocino County paint a picture of well-being and access to opportunity in Mendocino and Del Norte Counties today.

Building Bright Futures for Youth in Los Angeles

Building Bright Futures for Youth in Los Angeles: Spotlight on Young Women provides an in-depth look at youth disconnection in Los Angeles County. The report also has a special focus on young women.

Building Bright Futures for Youth in New Orleans

Building Bright Futures for Youth in New Orleans: Spotlight on Young Women provides an in-depth look at youth disconnection in Greater New Orleans (the New Orleans metropolitan area). The report also has a special focus on young women.

A Disrupted Year: How the Arrival of Covid-19 Affected Youth Disconnection

On the eve of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of teens and young adults disconnected from both work and school in the United States was lower than it had been in over a decade. Between 2010 and 2019, the youth disconnection rate fell 27 percent, driven largely by the steady increase in youth employment in the years following the Great Recession.

A Portrait of California 2021–2022

A Portrait of California 2021–2022: Human Development and Housing Justice, the third volume in Measure of America's Portrait of California series, takes a human development approach to understanding the country's most populous and diverse state.

A Decade Undone: 2021 Update

A Decade Undone: 2021 Update, a follow-up to last year's A Decade Undone: Youth Disconnection in the Age of Coronavirus, presents 2019 youth disconnection rates for the United States as a whole as well as by gender, race and ethnicity, region, state, metro area, county, congressional district, and public use microdata area (PUMA).

A Portrait of Louisiana 2020

A Portrait of Louisiana 2020: Human Development in an Age of Uncertainty uses the human development approach and the American Human Development Index to explore well-being and access to opportunity among different groups of Louisianans.

A Decade Undone: Youth Disconnection in the Age of Coronavirus

This report, written in the months before the pandemic, presents youth disconnection rates for the United States as a whole as well as by gender, race and ethnicity, region, state, metro area, county, and congressional district.

Making the Connection

This report presents the latest available data on youth disconnection for the United States as a whole as well as by gender, race and ethnicity, region, state, and metro area. It also examines a key factor preventing young people from staying in school and the workforce: disparities in access to reliable and affordable transportation.

Measuring America: 10 Years and Counting

“Measuring America: 10 Years and Counting” explores trends in American Human Development Index scores over the past decade by race and ethnicity, gender, and U.S. state, revealing the uneven nature of America’s rebound from the 2007 financial crisis.

Two Futures: The Economic Case for Keeping Youth on Track

Building on Measure of America’s Disconnected Youth Series, Two Futures: The Economic Case for Keeping Youth on Track finds that by the time they reach their thirties, those who had been working or in school as teens and young adults earn $31,000 more per year.

A Portrait of New York City 2018

A Portrait of New York City 2018: Well-Being in the Five Boroughs and the Greater Metro Area examines well-being and access to opportunity for different geographies and demographic groups in New York City and the greater New York–New Jersey–Connecticut metropolitan area using the human development framework and index.

More Than a Million Reasons for Hope

This report analyzes youth disconnection in the United States by state, metro area, county, and community type, and by gender, race, and ethnicity. It is the first in Measure of America’s disconnected youth series to compare American and European metro areas or to examine disconnection by group characteristics.

A Portrait of Los Angeles County

A Portrait of Los Angeles County is an exploration of how LA County residents are faring in terms of well-being and equity.

Highway to Health

Highway to Health: Life Expectancy in Los Angeles County reveals up-to-date life expectancy calculations for cities and unincorporated areas within Los Angeles County, the first release of such data in more than a decade.

Promising Gains, Persistent Gaps

Since Measure of America first wrote about youth disconnection half a decade ago, public awareness of both the plight and the promise of young people who are not in either school or the workforce has grown by leaps and bounds. This report takes a look at the disconnected youth population, what particular challenges they face, and what strategies have been shown to work.

Retail and Opportunity

Past research on workers in the retail sector showed that individuals face many obstacles on the path to economic success. This research investigated how retail employment relates to broader community conditions and individual-level characteristics with the aim to answer three questions.

High School Graduation in New York City

High School Graduation in New York City: Is Neighborhood Still Destiny? is an in-depth look at disparities in on-time high school graduation rates by New York City neighborhood.

Zeroing In on Place and Race

Zeroing In on Place and Race is an in-depth look at how disconnected youth are faring in America's cities, with data included on disconnected youth by state, congressional district, county, gender, and by race and ethnicity.

Geographies of Opportunity

Geographies of Opportunity: Ranking Well-Being by Congressional District is an in-depth look at how residents of America's 436 congressional districts are faring in three fundamental areas of life: health, access to knowledge, and living standards.

A Portrait of California 2014–2015

This 2014–2015 update of the 2011 California report allows us to compare outcomes from one place to another and to look at changes over time. The result is a comprehensive reference tool and a critical starting point for informed discussions on policy solutions.

Connecting Youth and Strengthening Communities

This report explores the relationship between civic engagement and opportunity. It provides data and analysis that builds on previous studies that found associations between civic engagement and economic opportunity.

Historical Report of Opportunity

“Historical Report of Opportunity,” the first statistical measure of national and state opportunity levels over the past four decades, uses publicly available data to provide a holistic picture of how the climate for opportunity has changed in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

A Portrait of Sonoma County

A Portrait of Sonoma County: 2021 Update, a follow-up to our 2014 report, paints a picture of well-being and access to opportunity in Sonoma County today, identifies areas of positive change, and draws attention to both new and persistent challenges.

HALVE THE GAP BY 2030: Youth Disconnection in America’s Cities

In this report we imagine, in very specific terms, a different, better tomorrow. We lay out an ambitious but attainable goal: to halve the gaps between the most- and least-connected neighborhoods and between racial groups in half by 2030.

The Measure of America 2013–2014

This third volume in the Measure of America series measures well-being in three vital areas—health, education, and earnings—that shape the opportunities available to us and enable people to invest in their families and live to their full potential.

One in Seven

An astonishing one in every seven Americans ages 16 to 24 is neither working nor in school—5.8 million young people in all. This brief ranks the country’s 25 largest metropolitan areas as well as the nation’s largest racial and ethnic groups in terms of youth disconnection.

Women’s Well-Being: Ranking America’s Top 25 Metro Areas

This analysis shows that the well-being of women living in metropolitan America varies tremendously by place as well as by race, ethnicity, age, and martial status.

A Portrait of Marin 2012

A Portrait of Marin highlights actions that Marinites can take to lock in human development successes today while setting the stage for significant budget savings and improved well-being tomorrow.

A Portrait of California 2011

A Portrait of California goes beyond the state’s fiscal and budgetary woes to examine the well-being of its people using the American Human Development Index, a measure based on official government data in health, education, and living standards.

The Measure of America 2010-2011: Mapping Risks and Resilience

The book contains American Human Development Index ranking for all 50 states, 435 congressional districts, major metropolitan areas, racial and ethnic groups, as well as men and women.

A Century Apart: New Measures of Well-being for U.S. Racial and Ethnic Groups

An entire century of human progress separates the worst-off from the best-off groups within the U.S., according to the latest update of the American Human Development (HD) Index.

Goals for the Common Good

This report is a companion piece to the online Common Good Forecaster,™ a joint product of United Way and Measure of America. It takes a closer look at the ten indicators featured on the Forecaster and makes the case for why education matters to each of these critical areas.

A Portrait of Louisiana 2009

This study examines disparities by parish, race, and gender in Louisiana, and calls for action to address the acute human vulnerability that persist four years after Hurricane Katrina.

A Portrait of Mississippi 2009

A Portrait of Mississippi: Mississippi Human Development Report 2009 examines well being and access to opportunity for different geographies and demographic groups in the state of Mississippi.

The Measure of America 2008–2009

The Measure of America is the first-ever human development report for a wealthy, developed nation. It introduces the American Human Development Index, which provides a single measure of well-being for all Americans, disaggregated by state and congressional district, as well as by gender, race, and ethnicity.