How Have Black Children Fared in McHenry County?
Comparing the adult outcomes for Black children to all children who grew up in McHenry County
The Opportunity Atlas measures adult outcomes (at age 35) for people born between 1978 and 1983 and traces them back to where those adults grew up. For example, a child that grew up in McHenry County but then moved to another state is represented in the data for McHenry County.
This week, I’m comparing the adult outcomes for Black people who grew up in McHenry County to the county average for those same outcomes. I’m not trying to draw any conclusions, I’m just looking at the available data.
I decided to focus on five metrics:
Individual Income
High School Graduation Rate
College Graduation Rate
Employment Rate
Incarceration Rate
At all parent income levels, the average individual income for Black people who grew up in McHenry County was lower than the overall average individual income and the average individual income for White people. As the parent income level increased, the disparity between individual income decreased. At the low parent income level, White people made more than 22% more than Black people. At the high parent income level, that disparity decreased to 12.5%.
Similarly to the individual income, the high school graduation rate was higher at higher parent income levels, and the disparity decreased as well. At the low parent income level, the high school graduation rate for Black students was 41.67% lower than for White students. That decreased to 9.30% at the high parent income level.
When looking at college graduation rate at the low parent income level, Black students had a higher graduation rate than both White students and the county overall. The rates evened out at the middle parent income level and switched at the high parent income level. Overall, White students who grew up in McHenry County were 25% more likely to graduate from college.
Black people who grew up in McHenry County with low-income parents had a higher employment rate at age 35 than people from any race at any parent income level—and tied for White people with high-income parents. The employment rate for Black people decreased at higher parent income levels, which is the opposite of the county as a whole and for White people. (Again, not drawing any conclusions, just looking at the data.)
We know that Black people are incarcerated at a higher rate than White people, and that seems to be true for people who grew up in McHenry County. Overall, Black people were incarcerated more than six times as often as White people. However, at the low parent income level, Black people were incarcerated less often than White people.