Research Document
Building Bridges Across Social Classes: Understanding What Connects Communities
Researchers studied how people from different income levels become friends using Facebook data. They found that making cross-class friendships depends on both having opportunities to meet people from different backgrounds and people's willingness to form those friendships. Understanding these patterns helps communities build stronger connections between people of all income levels.
31 pages|4.2 MB|March 6, 2026
Key Takeaways
1
About half of social disconnection between income groups comes from limited opportunities to meet people from different backgrounds
2
The other half comes from people being less likely to form friendships across income lines even when they have the chance
3
Religious organizations show less bias in friendship formation compared to schools and workplaces
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Larger and more diverse groups tend to have higher barriers to cross-class friendship formation
5
Communities can increase connections by either bringing diverse groups together or helping existing mixed groups interact better
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Researchers created public tools to help communities identify the best strategies for their specific situations
Keywords|Raj ChettyMatthew O. JacksonTheresa KuchlerJohannes StroebelNathaniel HendrenRobert B. FlueggeSara GongFederico GonzalezArmelle GrondinMatthew JacobDrew JohnstonMartin KoenenEduardo Laguna-MuggenburgFlorian MudekerezaTom RutterNicolaj ThorWilbur TownsendRuby ZhangMike BaileyPablo BarberáMonica Bhole & Nils Wernerfeltsocial connectionscommunity buildingeconomic mobilitysocial integrationfriendship networkssocioeconomic diversitycommunity researchsocial capital
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