Background

The Empowerment Score was developed to measure the community and individual level indicators of economic mobility and is intended to be used as a tool by state and local decision makers to increase opportunities for individuals to improve their income and overall economic status.

In an effort to build on decades of experience working to promote economic mobility and advance frontline service workers, the Empowerment Score was piloted as part of Lives Empowered, a statewide initiative to upskill frontline service workers in the retail and hospitality sectors. Lives Empowered was made possible by a $4.1 million grant from Walmart.

Like all data sets, the score is intended to prompt questions and uncover additional insights about economic mobility factors. Each of the county and regional scores should be understood in context of additional factors that may lead to the score.