MOVE THE INNER CITIES TO THE SUBURBS:

The study authors did a first-of-its-kind analysis of 72 million Facebook friendships between U.S. adults.

What they found: If poor children grew up in neighborhoods in which 70% of their friends were rich, their future incomes would be 20% higher than their counterparts who grew up without these bonds across class lines.

This was a stronger indicator of future income than factors like family structure and school quality, as well as the racial makeup and job availability in the child's community.

Reality check: It's not that simple. Friendships across class are increasingly hard to come by in our divided country.

For example, for people in the bottom 10% of the income distribution, only 2.5% of their friends are in the top 10%, Johannes Stroebel, an economist at NYU and one of the study authors, tells Axios.

There are some cities that are doing better than others. In Salt Lake City and Minneapolis, nearly half of the friends of folks in the bottom half of the income distribution are in the top half. But in Indianapolis, only about 30% of poorer people's friends are rich.

And there are certain spaces where cross-class bonds are built more frequently, Stroebel says. Churches, temples and other religious spaces are in that category.

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