Opportunity Report Card
C+
This month’s grade is a “C+”, driven by Massachusetts’ new jobs growth.
The Opportunity Report Card grades Massachusetts on the health and competitiveness of its economy, as well as quality of life in the Commonwealth. To report a grade, MOA researchers look at key factors that change monthly, quarterly, and annually in residential migration, business dynamics, production, labor force, public services, taxes, cost of living, housing, and earnings. View the full methodology in MOA’s Technical Appendix.
View more detail for each of these categories in the menu.
Overview
The Opportunity Report Card works by analyzing Massachusetts’ performance on a variety of factors, and assigning a letter grade based on its relative performance to other U.S. states and the District of Columbia. This overall grade is an average of Massachusetts’ performance on each individual factor, which you’ll see detailed in the table below.
See our summary of Massachusetts’ performance below, and click the topics on the right for more data and details.
Migration
Understanding the flow of residents in and out of Massachusetts indicates how current residents and prospective residents feel about the standard of living in the Commonwealth and how it stacks up compared to other states.
"Net migration of persons" refers to the total number of people leaving Massachusetts in a given tax year versus the total number of people entering Massachusetts.
"Net migration of dollars" refers to the total taxable income (measured by adjusted gross income or "AGI") of people leaving Massachusetts in a given tax year versus the total taxable income of people entering Massachusetts.
Data also shows the number of people and amount of income moving out of Massachusetts to other states.
Data also shows the number of people and amount of income moving into Massachusetts from other states.
Business Dynamics
Understanding business survival in Massachusetts is a critical metric of the state's business environment.
"Births" indicate new businesses, while "deaths" indicate businesses going out of operation in a given year.
This ratio shows how many businesses start in a given fiscal quarter for every one that goes out of business.
This data shows how many businesses apply for a permit to launch operations in Massachusetts in a given month.
This data shows the distribution of businesses by age in a given year.
Production
State gross domestic product (or "GDP") indicates the market value of all goods and services produced in Massachusetts. Comparing Massachusetts' GDP to other states is an important indicator of the state's economy.
Data first shows Massachusetts' state GDP levels and growth over time. Increased rate of growth means Massachusetts' economy is expanding, while slowing rate of growth could mean the opposite.
Comparing state GDP per capita standardizes production levels among the number of residents in a state.
Labor Force
Labor force data allows us to understand how Massachusetts' environment spurs job creation and economic growth.
Labor force participation rate measures how many people are either employed or actively looking for a job as a percentage of the total civilian population in Massachusetts.
The unemployment rate measures how many who are actively looking for a job (in the labor force participation rate) are currently not employed.
Education
It is important to understand how spending on public education in Massachusetts translates to student achievement outcomes.
This data shows per-student spending on Massachusetts' public schools.
To measure student achievement outcomes, this data reviews national standardized test scores ("NAEP" scores) for Massachusetts students in 8th grade mathematics and reading. The following charts show the percentage of Massachusetts students reaching national subject proficiency standards.
Transportation
It is important to measure Massachusetts' investment in public transportation.
This data shows all of Massachusetts public-subsidized transit systems, comparing the average operating expenses to average fares collected per trip on each system.
This ratio shows how much is collected in rider fares for every dollar of operating expenses. A value higher than 1 indicates the system recoups more in fares than it costs to run the system, a value less than one indicates the system is not recouping enough in fares to pay for the average costs to run the system.
Taxes
To understand tax burdens, we look at various categories of taxes levied on Massachusetts residents per capita.
Innovation
Innovation is a key factor to a growing economy. We use various data to understand how Massachusetts compares to other states in terms of its growing scientific, research, and development sector.
Share of employment in research and development ("R&D") industries can be measured by an employment "location quotient." This metric used by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics measures the density of R&D employment by state compared to the U.S. share of total employment.
Another important factor is venture capital provided to Massachusetts companies. We standardize this analysis by showing the amount of venture capital disbursed in Massachusetts compared to every $1 million in state GDP.
We also review the number of patents granted to Massachusetts individuals, standardized by population (per capita).
Cost of Living
Cost of living helps us understand how well a state's economy works for its residents.
We use price parity data to review the cost of living statewide (compared to often-used consumer price index data that generally tracks major urban areas). This metric presents individual state prices as a percentage relative to U.S. average prices (which equal 100%).
We also review how much of their income Massachusetts residents spend on various categories.
Housing
Here we compare the share of Massachusetts resident who rent or own their home. While this may be determined by various factors, higher shares of home ownership can indicate better opportunities for residents to invest and build equity.
Home ownership rates could be affected by the cost of housing. We use price parity data to measure the relative cost of housing by state compared to the national average.
Earnings
Earnings provide a gauge on how well Massachusetts residents can afford to live in their state.
One way to understand this is to look at the average of Massachusetts residents' yearly taxable income ("adjusted gross income").
We can also look at average wage and salary earnings.
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