Summary: The Child Opportunity Index (COI) is a scale that measures the level of opportunity available to children in every neighborhood in the United States.
Key Points:
- The first version of the COI appeared in 2014 and collected data on 73,000 neighborhoods across the country to determine a Child Opportunity Score (COS).
- The new, revised 2024 COI 3.0 measured 44 indicators in three core areas: educational opportunity, health and environmental factors, and social/economic factors.
What You’ll Learn:
In this article, we’ll discuss how neighborhoods can impact children, then describe the components of the COI for each core area. Next, we’ll report on the communities that received the top 10 scores, the middle 10 scores, and the lowest 10 scores on the index for 2024. We’ll finish by listing the ten things that make a neighborhood healthy and enriching for children and their families.
Neighborhoods: Impact on Child Health
Initiated by the Kirwan Institute at Ohio State University, the COI is now run by a group of public and social policy experts and researchers at the Institute for Equity in Child Opportunity & Healthy Development at Boston University School of Social Work.
They define the role of the COI as follows:
“Our core question asks whether all children—regardless of where they live or their race and ethnicity—have a fair chance of experiencing neighborhood conditions that help them thrive. We aim to expand the national discourse on inequality to encompass not only income and wealth but also the neighborhood environments where children grow up.”
Medical professionals understand the built environment – i.e. neighborhoods – can influence child health outcomes in a variety of ways. Research shows children in areas with low opportunity have an increased risk of developing/experiencing:
- Asthma
- Obesity
- Glaucoma
- Physiological stress
- Hospitalization
In addition, children in low opportunity, compared to children in high opportunity areas, have:
- 37% higher risk of premature mortality
- 60% higher risk of death of parent/caregiver
Neighborhoods also influence child educational outcomes in a variety of ways. Research shows children in areas with low opportunity have lower levels of:
- Kindergarten readiness
- Reading achievement
- Math achievement
- High school graduation
In addition, environmental conditions such as air pollution and exposure to lead – in old water pipes, for instance – can have a negative impact on cognitive development and learning. While not all evidence shows a direct causal connection between childhood opportunity and adult achievement, evidence does show that children who move from a low opportunity area to a high opportunity area have higher average income and educational achievement during adulthood, compared to children who remained in low opportunity areas.
Now let’s take a close look at the indicators that make up the COI.
The Components of the Child Opportunity Index
There are three core domains that contribute to a Child Opportunity Score (COS): education, health/environment, and social/economic. To arrive at a score, researchers collect the raw data for each indicator listed below, convert numbers to a standardized value, then weight each metric based on its potential impact on long-term health and economic consequences.
Here’s a breakdown of the metrics that contribute to an overall COS score for each neighborhood, starting with education.
Core Domain 1: Education
Early Education (EE)
- EE centers within 5 miles
- High -quality EE centers within 5 miles
- Percentage of children 3-5 attending EE center
Elementary education
- Measured by proficiency on standardized reading and math tests among third graders
High School
- Graduation rate
- Advanced Placement (AP): percentage of 11th-12th graders enrolled in at least one AP course
College
- Number of young adults, 18-24, attending college within 25 miles
Educational and social resources
- School economic status: percentage of students in free lunch/food support programs
- Teaching experience: percentage of teachers with under 3 years of classroom experience
- Adult education: percentage of adults 25+ with college degree
Next, the metrics for health and environment.
Core Domain 2: Health/Environment
Environment and Food
- Healthy grocery store density
- Fast food density
- Proximity to parks and greenspace
- Walkability: number basic services within walking distance
Pollution
- Number of hazardous sites within 2 miles
- Presence of industrial pollutants in air, water, soil
- Measured concentration of airborne microparticles
- Average ozone concentration per 8 hours
- Heat exposure: number of summer days over 90 degrees Fahrenheit
Health resources
- Percentage of residents with health insurance
- Presence of non-profit healthcare organizations
Finally, the metrics for social and economic indicators of child opportunity.
Social/Economic
Employment
- Adult employment rate
- High-skill employment rate
Economic Resources
- Median household income
- Poverty rate
- Public assistance/social programs rate
Wealth
- Homeownership rate
- Percentage of single-family households
- Home values
- Income
After collecting and preparing the data, researchers assign a COS to each community/neighborhood on a scale of 0-100, with “0” representing the lowest possible level of opportunity and “100 representing the highest level of opportunity available for a child.
Child Opportunity Scores: Highest Ten, Middle Ten, Lowest Ten
Researchers divide the scores into five levels: very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. This first bullet list includes neighborhoods that meet criteria for high and very high opportunity for children, with scores over 70.
COS 2024: Highest 10
- Bridgeport, CT: 88
- San Jose, CA: 87
- Boston, MA-NH: 86
- San Francisco, CA: 84
- Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV: 80
- Hartford, CT: 78
- Madison, WI: 78
- Albany, NY: 77
- Minneapolis, MN-WI: 77
- Seattle, WA: 76
This second bullet list includes neighborhoods that meet criteria for moderate opportunity for children, with scores over 35 but below 70.
COS 2024: Middle 10
- San Diego, CA: 61
- Springfield, MA: 61
- Syracuse, NY: 59
- Fayetteville, AR: 58
- North Port, FL: 58
- Sacramento, CA: 58
- Virginia Beach, VA-NC: 58
- Dayton, OH: 57
- Detroit, MI: 57
- Nashville, TN: 57
This third bullet list includes neighborhoods that meet criteria for low to very low opportunity for children, with scores below 35.
COS 2024: Lowest 10
- Fayetteville, NC: 31
- Augusta, GA-SC: 29
- El Paso, TX: 27
- Memphis, TN-MS-AR: 27
- Lakeland, FL: 26
- Fresno, CA: 16
- Bakersfield, CA: 14
- Visalia, CA: 13
- Brownsville, TX: 9
- McAllen, TX: 6
Please keep in mind that these scores represent the results of objective metrics related to long term physical health and economic stability. They’re absolutely not value judgments on the communities: members of the highest and lowest scoring neighborhoods are all members of our nationwide community. Here’s how the COI researchers characterize their work and goals for creating the COI and corresponding COI scores:
“Underlying all our work is a commitment to equity. We believe all children deserve an equal opportunity to grow and learn…we aim to expand the national discourse on inequality to encompass not only income and wealth but also the neighborhood environments where children grow up.”
We’ll close this article with a description of ten components that make a neighborhood a high opportunity area for a child.
Neighborhoods and Opportunity: Factors That Raise the Score
In the paper “Child Opportunity Index: A Multidimensional Indicator to Measure Neighborhood Conditions Influencing Children’s Health,” a group of health scientists in Europe evaluated the COI and created a list to use as a guide for neighborhoods that seek to increase levels of opportunity for children, based on their review of the material contained in each COI.
We adapted the list for length and clarity.
Ten Components of a Healthy and Enriching Neighborhood for Children
- Safe and social. Safe, social neighborhoods engender feelings of community and increase belief in community/citizenship.
- Healthy and enriching neighborhoods have quick, easy access to:
-
- Parks
- Schools
- Grocery stores
- Healthy neighborhoods are easy to navigate on foot.
- Enriching neighborhoods have easy access to parks with green areas, trees.
- Access to Services. Healthy neighborhoods are close to:
-
- Healthcare
- Police, firefighters, medical first responders
- Educational institutions
- Public transportation
- Entertainment facilities
- Housing Variety. Healthy and enriching neighborhoods include a combination of living options, from single family homes to condos to apartment buildings.
- Thoughtful Design. Healthy neighborhoods have layout that encourages social interaction.
- Enriching neighborhoods are planned with an aesthetic sensibility and designed to be appealing.
- Community Participation. In healthy neighborhoods, residents watch out for and support one another, and communicate to resolve community issues.
- Low Crime Rate. Healthy, enriching neighborhoods are safe, have a police presence, are close to a police station, and promote feelings of security among residents and community members.
It’s easy to see why these ten components improve overall opportunity for children: they cover physical, emotional, psychological, and social needs, and increase the likelihood a child will thrive at home, school, and eventually as adults in the workplace.
Child Opportunity and the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)
One thing we’re becoming increasingly aware of in the U.S. is the impact of environmental – meaning conditions where a person lives – factors on overall health and wellbeing. We published an article on a similar topic here:
What Affects the Mental Health of Children?
In that article, we identify the five social determinants of health and describe their impact on children, with a focus on mental health:
- Economic Stability
- Education Access and Quality
- Health Care Access and Quality
- Neighborhood and Built Environment
- Social and Community Context
To learn more, please click the article link to read the article, and the links in the list for a definition of each determinant of health. When we understand the meaning of metrics like the COI and concepts like the SDOH, we can learn to offer specialized support to children, adolescents, and young adults, based on a comprehensive, holistic view of health – and all the factors that contribute to overall wellbeing.
