IN AMERICA, SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY SEEMS TO BE DESTINY FOR THE 99%

This is a graph of social (monetary) mobility in America by location:

The real variables seem to be social:

...the researchers identified four broad factors that appeared to affect income mobility, including the size and dispersion of the local middle class. All else being equal, upward mobility tended to be higher in metropolitan areas where poor families were more dispersed among mixed-income neighborhoods.

Income mobility was also higher in areas with more two-parent households, better elementary schools and high schools, and more civic engagement, including membership in religious and community groups.

There is one group that is exempt from this variation:

The study found that the chance rich kids will grow up to be rich is pretty much the same across metropolitan areas around the country.