Students who come from higher-income families are more likely to be ready for college in California, according to data from the California Department of Education and U.S. Census Bureau.
A review of the data from 12 counties found that for every $10,000 of annual family income, there is a three percent jump in the number of students who have met the requirements for admittance to a University of California or California State University school.
For example, median family income in Santa Cruz County was about $107,000 in 2019, when about 48 percent of graduates were ready to enter a UC or CSU school.
In Contra Costa County, annual income was about $126,000 and about 55 percent of graduates could meet requirements for admittance to a California state university.
San Francisco State University economist Veronica Sovero said the relationship is not surprising.
She suggested a more interesting and broader question: whether children in lower-income households do better economically in adulthood if their family lives in a higher-income neighborhood.
Research shows they do, Sovero said, pointing to work by Raj Chetty, an economist at Harvard University and the director of Opportunity Insights.
Chetty’s research finds that growing up in a higher-income neighborhood causes improved outcomes in adulthood, Sovero said.
