Being born a city slicker won't make you any richer.

• Position: Eastern - Statistical data

The East is generally regarded as the poorest region of the state, so it's little wonder that impoverished children in and around Wilson have the slimmest chance of any poor kids in North Carolina of climbing the income ladder, according to a study by professors at Harvard University and University of California, Berkeley. But growing up in the region doesn't predetermine poverty. In fact, children born into poor families in many eastern counties have better odds of earning in the top 20% when they're adults than those in the majority of counties in the Triangle and Charlotte regions do. "These geographical differences are modestly correlated with variation in tax expenditure policies across areas," researchers wrote. "But much variation in children's success across areas remains to be explained, potentially by factors such as income segregation, school quality or social capital." The Southeast recorded much lower potential for upward intergenerational mobility than other parts of the country.

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