While many believe it's easier to move up the economic ladder in America than anywhere else in the world, the United States simply does not do very well on that score.

Americans take pride in living in a land of opportunity, where you can "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" and succeed in the face of adversity. But recent research shows that old adage may not be true, depending on where in the country you live. more

Americans love economic mobility. It’s kind of a founding myth for us: We see ourselves as having broken free from rigid, aristocratic Europe to form a meritocracy that guaranteed a chance to move up in the world. Though there has been much talk lately about rising income inequality in the United States, what has worried pundits on both the left and the right has been recent reports that Americans aren’t as economically mobile as citizens other Western nations. more

A week after the Occupy Wall Street movement protested economic inequality in May Day rallies across the U.S., a study found that the ability to become rich may depend on where you live. more

The ability of individuals to achieve the American dream depends on where they live, according to the first state-by-state look at the opportunity to move up the economic ladder. more