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Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy, and Health (CARTEEH)

A USDOT University Transportation Center

Opportunity Index

The Opportunity Index is a composite measure that draws upon important economic, educational, health, and community-related indicators of opportunity. It provides insight into the multidimensional nature of opportunity in the United States. The indicators are broken down geographically to measure opportunity for individual states and counties, as well as aid policymakers and other stakeholders as they work to increase opportunity in our nation. Each dimension of the Index includes three to seven indicators—the specific measurements used to quantify opportunity.

This tool will help achieve the goal of the following objectives

  • Less Contamination
  • Less Emissions
  • Less Traffic Noise
  • Connectivity and Inclusion
  • Healthy Destinations
  • Less Traffic Violence
  • Active Transportation
  • Green Space

Estimation Technique

The Opportunity Index is a tool that ranks states and counties based on factors that affect economic opportunity. The index looks at four key indicators of opportunity:
* Educational attainment
* Housing affordability
* Job accessibility
* Racial and ethnic inclusion
Each of these indicators is given a score, and the state or county’s overall score is an average of these four indicator scores. The Opportunity Index can be used to compare different states or counties and to track changes over time.
The Educational Attainment indicator looks at the percentage of adults in a state or county who have a high school diploma or equivalent. The higher the percentage, the higher the score.
The Housing Affordability indicator looks at the median rent as a percentage of median income. The lower the percentage, the higher the score.
The Job Accessibility indicator looks at the number of jobs accessible within a certain distance from the average worker’s home. The higher the number, the higher the score.
The Racial and Ethnic Inclusion indicator looks at the percentage of each racial and ethnic group that lives in high-poverty areas. The lower the percentage, the higher the score.