DESCRIPTION OF THE 62 LIFESTYLE CLUSTERS

 

 01 - Millionaires

 Millionaires, as the name implies, collects America’s most successful achievers and old money.  It ranks first for both median and per-capita income, salaries, self and investment income, home values and net worth, and ranks second behind the Urban Brahmins in higher education and professional/managerial occupations.

 

 02 - Country Clubbers

 Country Clubbers are one rung down from the Millionaires and ranks second on all measures of income and affluence and third in college and postgraduate education.  These expensive suburbs are packed into our three great metropolitan strips, dubbed “Bos-Wash”, “Chi-Pitts”, and “San-San”, with the bulk (40%) in Bos-Wash.  Much of this wealth is new money, earned and freely spent by captains of business and technology.

 

 03 - Turbo Boomers

 Turbo Boomers rank first in the large “baby boomers” age group of 35-44 and are concentrated in the rapid growth cities of Atlanta, Washington DC, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco.  They are heavy hitters, highly educated and employed in executive and professional occupations ranking second in marriage and fourth for household income.

 

 04 - Posh Nesters

 Posh Nesters lies five rungs down the income ladder and can be found evenly divided from East to West.  Ten years ago, these were upscale family neighborhoods but, most of the kids having flown; they are now dominated by wealthy, middle-aged couples.  Too young to retire and well employed as executives and professionals, almost all the husbands still work.  Ranking fourth in employment, fifth in investments, and sixth in salaries, they live the good life.

 

 05 - Euro Winners

 Euro Winners prove the realization of the “American Dream”.  For these fringe neighborhoods, over half concentrated in the northeastern quadrant of the U.S., 66% represent second and third generation immigrants from the length and breadth of Europe, Britain, and Ireland.  Where are they now?  In executive and professional jobs, ranking sixth in lifestyle quality.

 

 06 - Safe Harbors

 Safe Harbors are concentrated (67%) in the nation’s ten largest port cities (New York, Boston, San Francisco, Baltimore, et al), but not in the dense, downtown areas.  Instead, they live in the newer suburbs, well beyond the beltways, where folks can raise their kids in relative security.  They rank second for owner-occupied, detached homes, families, and three or more cars.  These are executive and professionals who are married with big households and many kids.

 

 07 - Hard Chargers

 Hard Chargers, like Turbo Boomers, are concentrated in rapid growth cities especially those in Texas and points west.  A shade older and a few rungs down on income, they rank first for families with kids, first for two or more worker families and very high for five or more person households.  High employment, working wives and dual incomes are their keys to good living.

 

 08 - Breakthroughs

 Breakthroughs have earned their place in affluent America and not via “silver spoons” or higher education.  This cluster has crossed into the top quintile of household incomes by having multiple family incomes in predominantly white collar or skilled blue-collar jobs.  They lead a good life but, with smaller portfolios and kids to raise, they are far more conservative spenders.  They speak Spanish and Asian languages at home.

 

 09 - Urban Brahmins

 Urban Brahmins are concentrated in the nation’s major markets and rank first for college and post grads, executives and professionals and high-rise households, second for one-person households, and last for presence of children, persons per household, blue collar and rural occupations.  They are exceptionally urban, single and affluent.

 

 10 - Golden Oldies

 Fifty percent of Golden Oldies are located in the West and Southeast in wealthy, high-rise singles and couples neighborhoods largely devoid of children.  This is due not only to age, but also to a fairly high index of broken homes.  Ranking seventh in investments, they can afford most anything thanks to a high rate of employment with both the men and women working in executive and professional jobs.

 

11 - Egalitarians

 Egalitarians represent the nations upscale, urban Bohemians mostly located in the large coastal cities.  Highly educated, these sophisticates value their radical lifestyles above all conformities; this evidenced more by behavior than demographics.  They rank first for living in racially integrated neighborhoods and second for childless singles.

 

 12 - After Boomers

 After Boomers depict the generation between the “baby boomers” and “generation X”.  This cluster is concentrated in most of the nation’s fastest growing cities, both large and small.  They may have missed the boom, but not the action for these are educated, young executives and professionals at the very top of the second income quintile.  They rank second on annual growth, are equally divided between married versus single, have few kids and most everyone works.

 

 13 - Lower Bohemia

 Lower Bohemia is comprised of highly educated, somewhat racially diverse, radical white-collar singles.  Here, working women outnumber men in jobs mostly centered on communications and retailing.  They earn moderate incomes and live in rented, high-rise buildings and flats.

 

 14 - Middle Managers

 Middle Managers can be found in several established industrial areas such as the Great Lakes and Detroit.  These solid citizens, serving every major industry except mining, are equally divided between parents and post-child couples and are evenly employed across all white-collar categories.  High employment and dual incomes keep them near the top of the second quintile of income and affords the consumption of two or more automobiles.

 

 15 - Second City Czars

 Second City Czars, present in every U.S. region, consist of the business and civic leaders from hundreds of “edge” and “second cities” across the nation.  From Fresno, CA to Norfolk, VA, Mobile, AL to Spokane, WA, these are low-density suburbs populated by upscale executives and professionals, mostly married with one or two kids.

 

 16 - Sunbelt Surge

 Sunbelt Surge boasts the fastest growth rate in America ranking first in average population growth and 10-year home construction rates.  They rank third for marriage, children under six, and two or more worker families.  Well above average for college graduates places them in white-collar jobs and the second income quintiles.

 

 17 - New Pioneers

 New Pioneers collects that rare segment of the educated, upscale population that despises big cities and arranges their lives to live in the nation’s more serene, scenic mountain and coastal areas with over 70% in the Pacific, Mountain and New England regions.  Most are executives and professionals who live and raise kids in harmony with skilled blue-collar neighbors where second quintile incomes are compensated by low living costs.

 

 18 - Green Mountains

 Green Mountains resides in smaller “second” or “edge” cities such as Binghamton, NY, Portland, ME, and Helena, MT, and owes its name to a concentration of these cities in the nation’s uplands coast-to-coast.  These are educated, midscale, white-collar singles and couples with few children, most living in rented apartments.

 

 19 - Mixed Doubles

 Mixed Doubles comprise a diverse mix of European ancestries:  in the South, they are predominantly English and Scottish, in the Northeast, more Irish and Italian, and in the North Central region, more German and Scandinavian; all are representative of our historic patterns of immigration and settlement.  They are upscale, white-collar couples, most childless, well employed and active.

 

 20 - Northern Lights

 Seventy-five percent of the Northern Lights reside in the Northeast or North Central regions or in Oregon and Idaho.  As might be expected in these climates, families of North European ancestry such as British, Scottish, Swedish, Polish and German largely populate the cluster.  Most are married with children with education centering on high school and some college ranking second.  Their jobs are mixed white collar and skilled blue collar that places them in the top income quintile.

 

 21 - Royal Blues

 Royal Blues represent the most upscale blue-collar families in the top income quintile.  They are predominantly high school educated with some college years and live in low density, family towns in the far exurbs of major markets.  They work as engineers and top foremen in mining, drilling, construction, manufacturing, utilities and transportation.

 

 22 - Top Mechanics

 Top Mechanics are much like the Royal Blues comprising of the nation’s upscale, skilled blue collar workers and are similarly scattered across the country with an above-average presence in every region save the Mid-Atlantic and Pacific.  Also similar is their devotion to marriage and large families with many kids of all ages.  They can be found mostly in the low-density satellite towns and exurbs of “second cities”.  The main difference between these two clusters is in their job class and household income that is a full quintile below the Royal Blues.

 

  23 - Western Hustle

 Western Hustle is scattered across the Sunbelt with the bulk of its population lying west of the 95th parallel which cuts the nation in half near the borders of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.  These are family neighborhoods ranking ninth for households with kids and consisting have mostly married couples that work in mixed white and blue-collar jobs across all industries.  With many working women and dual incomes, they nudge into the upper-middle income range.

 

 24 - Middleville

 Middleville neighborhoods lie close to the U.S. median for all major demographic indicators and are very similar to Middle City neighborhoods.  Taken together, the pair approximate a national average with Middle City representing the metro fringes and Middleville the exurbs.  Here too, most major demographics show marginal peaks with high and low index ranges of 109 to 87 for age groups, 110 to 80 for education levels, and 111 to 83 across all occupations.

 

 25 - Seaboarders

 Seaboarders depict most American’s desired mode of retirement: to pull up stakes and move to a villa or condo where sun and surf, a dozen golf courses, a hundred doctors and a thousand peers make for happy endings.  They rank for elderly couples, third for investments, near bottom for presence of children and last for youths aged 18-24. Over 80% live on the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts and may still work and have dual incomes.

 

 26 - Roman Banquet

 Roman Banquet consists of mostly Italian and Irish immigrant families who live in the fringes of the Boston-Philadelphia region.  These are immigrants who have flourished, consisting of large adult families with two or more workers.

 

 27 - Solvent Seniors

 Solvent Seniors can be found coast-to-coast and corner-to-corner across the nation.  They represent the upscale, pre-retired elders in hundreds of “second cities”.  Most are post-child couples with dual white-collar jobs and salaries.  Combined with relatively low living costs, discretionary income is disproportionately high.

 

 28 - Time Sharers

 Time Sharers is the smallest of all the clusters and collects over 1,200 scenic mountain and coastal enclaves in which 75% of the total households are seasonal homes or time-shares. This cluster represents homes that are now-and-then occupied by aging, post-child, married couples who are employed in mixed white and blue collar jobs and are near the top of the third quintile of income.

 

 29 - Great Lakers

 Great Lakers neighborhoods are a comfortable haven for many midscale, pre-retired seniors with 60% of its households in two Census regions and eight States all bordering the Great Lakes.  Half live in “second city” suburbs on the exact center of the U.S. density and quality scales and are modest, stay-at-home conservatives with mixed white and blue-collar jobs.

 

 30 - Blue & Gray

 With one foot in the South and one in the North, the Blue & Grays may evoke the Civil War but its name actually describes over 7,000 neighborhoods populated by aging, high school educated, pre-retired blue-collar families.  They live in 21-40 year old homes in “second city” suburbs, many with teenagers or unemployed live-in adult kids.  With average incomes, fewer investments, and more mouths to feed, they are modest spenders.

 

 31 - Generation X

 Generation X’ers showcases a new U.S. cultural phenomenon, dubbed “Generation X” by the media, they represent well-born, college educated, post-Vietnam youths for whom “the dream” has become a mirage.  Upon graduating college, they have found very few or menial jobs.  Some have reacted with cynicism and/or hedonism while the rest strive on.  They abound in the singles apartments in myriad “second cities” and earn minimal incomes.

 

32 - Pacific Rim

 Pacific Rim is aptly named with 32% of its households located in Hawaii plus another 60% hugging the coast of California.  Fifty-four percent of its total population is either Asian or Pacific Islander. These are mixed family and single neighborhoods that cross all age groups, but center around the 30’s.  Education is bi-modal with the youths having some college and many elders with grade school only.

 

33 - Mediterraneans

 Mediterraneans gathers most of its population from Southern Europe along with some influence from Ireland, Poland and Russia.  They rank first in New York TV market with 85% of its total population residing there.  Unique among the other clusters in the Metro Market Fringes Group, they show both bi-modal age and education patterns and mixed families and singles typical of neighborhoods in transition.

 

 

 34 - Middle City

 Middle City represents the median of most major demographics across the country.  They live in fringe areas but are on the cusp of suburbs, they are young but all age groups index above 90.  College level education leans to “some”.  They spread evenly across all occupations save farming and abound in every Census region with a high concentration in the Pacific Northwest.

 

 35 - Chicano Blues

 Chicano Blues is one of two clusters centered in Los Angeles and contains one of the largest concentrations of Hispanics.  These are “Chicanos,” many being descendants from the original Spanish settlers of California, and most represent stable families with many children, ranking third in five or more member households.  Most families have two workers, predominantly blue collar, working to put them near the top of the middle class.

 

36 - Bible Belters

 Bible Belters has 65% of its households located in the South in hundreds of “second cities” and satellite towns from Tyler, TX to Charleston, WV.  They rank first of all 62 clusters in percent of population, third in skilled blue collars and mobile home ownership.  They live in low-density neighborhoods with a high incidence for married, homeowner families most with school-age children.

 

37 - Deer hunters

 Deerhunters, which is highly concentrated (71%) in dozens of factory towns typified by top-ranked Johnstown-Altoona, PA, can be found throughout the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and North Central regions.  They rank first for high school education, second for manufacturing occupations and fourth for total blue-collar workers.  These neighborhoods represent mixed families and couples in the third income quintile.

 

38 - Mobile Coasters

 Mobile Coasters owes its name to the fact that a full 70% of its households lie in states on the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf Coasts or the Great Lakes, and that nearly half (44%) of these households are mobile homes.  They are largely high school educated or less, blue collar boomers with over half being married.  Well above average for both kids of all ages and unemployment, life is no breeze in these neighborhoods yet with their low housing costs they are easy spenders.

 

 

 39 - Medi-Cares

 Medi-Cares ranks second in retired couples, belong to the pull-up-stakes crowd and strive to emulate the Golden Oldies. Since they can’t match the money of the Golden Oldies, they search out scenic beauty and a lower cost of living mostly in Florida and the Pacific while others go to popular retirement pockets in the Southwest, the Ozark Mountains or the Michigan peninsula.  One-third rent houses, one-third choose condos and the rest live in apartments or mobile homes where they rank first for old age, one car and no workers.

 

40 - Hi-Rise Widows

 Hi-Rise Widows ranks first in persons widowed, separated or divorced and second for persons age 75+ on Social Security incomes.  Most live alone in rented, hi-rise, suburban apartments located in hundreds of major and “second cities” which, excepting Florida, lie primarily in the North.  With few youths and even fewer children, these neighborhoods are very senior but not retired and most own one car.

 

41 - Midtown Elders

 Midtown Elders depicts America’s most common mode of retirement:  staying on in the town where you grew up either in the old family home or in a retirement village.  These are mixed white and blue-collar retirees with 64% residing in the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and North Central regions.  Here, working widows outnumber kids and incomes are at the bottom of the fourth quintile.

 

42 - Sunset Acres

 Sunset Acres represent senior neighborhoods depicting rural America and can be found in every Census region with most concentrated in the North Central, Northwest and Northeast regions.  Ranked fourth in population age 75+, about half still work with the other half being mostly high school educated, blue collar, “stay-at-home” retirees with modest fifth quintile incomes.

 

43 - Agrarians

 Agrarians ranks second in agribusiness ranging from farming to cattle ranching, to sheep herding and forestry.  They rank second for living in low-density areas, 11+ years of tenure, high school education, German and Scandinavian ancestry (50% of their total population) and for concentration in the North Central region.  They also rank first for White and third for married couples.

 

44 - Snow Ploughs

 Snow Ploughs is the second smallest of all U.S. MOSAIC clusters and represents the last vestige of pure agrarian lifestyles in America.  They represent a long list of firsts including lowest population density, most Northern, most married, most German and Scandinavian and most farmers.  Children are plentiful but youths aged 18-24 are scarce.

 

45 - Hinterlands

 Hinterlands is scattered across the nation in some 3,500 low density towns, ranches and farms with over half located in the uplands of the Southwest Central, Mountain and Pacific regions.  Populated mostly by White, Mexican and American Indian families with children, one in five are farmers or ranch hands and the rest are mostly blue-collar workers variously employed in mining, drilling and construction.  While they fall into the fourth income quintile, their living costs are low which allows for above-average home and auto ownership.

 

46 - Backpatches

 Backpatches neighborhoods gather over 5,100 towns and crossroad villages across the South.  Seventy-five percent of its population resides in the ten states of bygone “Dixie” plus Kentucky, West Virginia, Missouri, and Oklahoma.  They are mostly rustic, blue-collar workers with minimal education and incomes.  Many are descendants from the early English, Scottish and Irish settlers of the region and they struggle to work in rural industries plagued by unemployment.

 

47 - Coal and Copper

 Coal and Copper ranks second in non-metro neighborhoods due to its predominant location near the nation’s mines, quarries and oil fields found chiefly in Appalachia, the Rockies and Southwest.  They are White, married families with many kids.  Education is split between high school and grade school due to a tradition of early employment.

 

48 - Resurgence

 Resurgence resides mostly in the South with 80% of its total population in the eleven “Confederate” states.  This region represents an ongoing resurgence traceable both to air conditioning and to a “second invasion”, this time by global industry seeking low-cost real estate, labor and taxes.  Embodying this trend across 5,300 rural communities, the cluster ranks first in blue collar labor and represents mostly families with kids who are 23% Black and have minimal education and incomes.

 

49 - Southern Comfort

 Southern Comfort is one of a dozen clusters that defines the complex cores across America.  In this case, the neighborhoods are predominantly Southern and Black, relatively well educated and employed, with a majority in owner-occupied family homes.  They rank fifth for female breadwinners putting them at the top of the fourth quintile of income.

 

 

 50 - Sunbelt Solos

 Sunbelt Solos is similar to the Generation X’ers but in this case they represent the young Blacks and Hispanics cast adrift mostly in the South.  Both are equally represented, share a bit of college and work, when they can get it, in blue collar and service jobs.  Low incomes, many broken homes, children and solo parents mar the picture.

 

51 - Latino Norte

 Latino Norte is highly concentrated in the Northeast with 60% of its households located in the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions.  They are found predominantly in “second cities” such as Providence, RI, Utica, NY and Erie, PA, and are known for large Catholic populations.  Many are Puerto Ricans or Mexicans and a significant number are Polish and Italian.  Atypical of such a mix, most are childless, blue-collar youths and singles who live in rented duplex homes and own only one automobile.

 

52 - Anytown Blues

 Anytown Blues, along with Sunset Acres and Middlevilles, are one of the three most widely dispersed of all the clusters.  Representing a multi-cultural mix of Whites, Blacks, Asians, and American Indians gathered from around the world, they are scattered across all but three DMA markets and in hundreds of “second cities”.  These neighborhoods share limited education, have blue collar, service and farm jobs.

 

53 - Native America

 Native America, ranking first in Mountain and Southwest Central regions and first for American Indians, is unique on several counts.  They rank second in Spanish-speaking Mexican immigrants, large five or more person families and grade school education, and third for total unemployment and households with children.  Nearly all are blue-collar workers or farmers.

 

54 - Heart of Dixie

 Heart of Dixie neighborhoods blanket the South from Virginia to Texas and is nearly ubiquitous in this region, present in over 5,000 Block Groups.  These neighborhoods are primarily Black, poor and uneducated.  However, in contrast to their northern cousins, they enjoy a far lower cost of living, are church-communal and self-supporting.  They rank high in female workers and are above average in ownership of cars.

 

55 - Inner Harbors

 Inner Harbors is highly concentrated in America’s six major harbor cities and borrows its name from first-ranked Baltimore.  At 83%, it ranks first above all clusters in percent population Black as well as in percent of total population decline.  Compared with Southern Comfort, these neighborhoods are populated more by singles and solo parents.  They show a marginal age split, live in 40+ year-old rented low and high-rise apartments, and rank fourth in population density.

 

56 - Minority Meld

 Minority Meld inhabits big cities as well as many “second” and “edge” cities peppered across the northern half of the nation from Albany, NY to Reno, NV.  These are transitional, high-rise, minority melting pots with a full mix of Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians.  They represent bi-modal age groups who work mostly in low income service jobs with few achieving higher education or white-collar jobs and rank first for one-person households.

 

57 - Young Angelinos

 Young Angelinos represents the smaller of the two clusters centered on the huge Hispanic population of Los Angeles.  Like Chicano Blues, they consist of large, blue-collar families ranking first in five or more person households, but the resemblance ends there.  Young Angelinos are very young, poorly educated and are largely restricted to labor and service jobs.  Most live in rented apartments and are only four rungs from the bottom of the income ladder.

 

58 - New San Juan

 New San Juan ranks second only to Mediterraneans in New York concentration with 82% of its households located in the New York DMA, 50% being in the Bronx and Brooklyn.  These bilingual Hispanic neighborhoods have evolved from three decades of immigration from Latin America with almost half from Puerto Rico.  Due to minimal education and menial jobs, too many children, and a cultural bias against working women, they rank fifth in unemployment and last in automobile ownership.

 

59 - Motowners

 Motowners is largely concentrated in the Great Lakes industrial region and takes its name from first-ranked Detroit.  These Black neighborhoods, young and under-educated, rank second in total unemployment and have very low household incomes.  This, added to high birth rates, puts them in second place for broken homes.

 

60 - City Services

 City Services can be found coast-to-coast but are mostly concentrated in markets east of the Mississippi.  Ranking first in unemployment, welfare, menial labor and service jobs, they are further troubled by ranking first for number of total and pre-school aged children with 78% of those households representing solo parents.  They live in mixed, rented high-rise and low-rise apartments and rank last for both average and median household incomes.

 

 61 - Barracks Life

 Barracks Life is one of two anomalous clusters, which describe the nation’s military installations.  With 40% of its population quartered in barracks, all household-based data is inflated and a direct comparison to other clusters is awkward.  On the one hand, military wages are minimal, but if we figure that about 60% of their living costs including all meals, shelter and medicine are gratis, we can see how they can and do afford wives, kids and cars.

 

62 - Campus Years

 Campus Years, like Barracks Life, is the second of two anomalous clusters in the system with this collecting the bulk of colleges and universities where youths aged 18-24, nearly all living in dormitories, dominate the lifestyle.  They rank first for youths and singles, and last on marriage and kids of any age.  They fall into the fourth income quintile, as most students live on their parents’ income.