Community Foundation: Dubuque ranks high on economic mobility but newcomers and single‑mother households lag

Alex Baum, a Community Foundation representative, told a Dubuque City Council work session that new local analysis using Opportunity Insights data shows high measured economic mobility in the region but also important gaps that leave some residents behind.

"Since 2023 alone, we estimate that we brought in more than $1.6 million in related grants and created an $8 million impact investing fund," Baum said, citing recent Foundation investments that he said multiply the city’s programmatic impact. He said Opportunity Insights data ranked Dubuque County in the 92nd percentile on mobility measures and, among counties with at least 60,000 residents, placed Dubuque County third nationally according to the Foundation’s presentation of the study.

Why the city shows both strong mobility for some residents and weak change in household income overall, Baum said, appears linked to social networks. "Economic connectedness" — relationships that cross income levels — showed the highest correlation with mobility in the Opportunity Insights research, he said. Baum warned that newcomers and people without established local ties may be less able to access the informal job and referral networks that have helped long‑standing residents.

The Foundation’s work with the City of Dubuque includes Project HOPE and Engage Dubuque, Baum said, and he described coordinated efforts with the Office of Shared Prosperity and the Office of Community Impact and Neighborhood Support. He said Project HOPE has focused on affordable housing this year and will highlight data on rent, utility costs and homelessness at the next public data walk at the McCarthy Center in the Roshek Building.

Baum also described the Better Together Committee — a coalition of more than 90 stakeholders, a large share of whom are immigrants — and said the Foundation has trained more than 20 local Spanish‑ and Marshallese‑speaking medical interpreters and is launching an outreach campaign to promote those services to health providers and employers.

A council member asked whether the city’s recent population and workforce growth among immigrant families could explain the disparity in household‑income change; Baum answered that the data "points in directions" and reiterated that language and network barriers, as well as time constraints for caregivers, can limit access to opportunities. He also noted that single‑mother households make up a disproportionate share of families below the poverty line in Dubuque County.

Baum urged continued investment in navigation and casework to help residents connect with the many local services he said Project HOPE identified. "With that many entities, it doesn't matter how well you can make referrals," he said, arguing for active navigation to help residents move through the system.

The Foundation’s presentation also touched on Envision 2030 community priorities, youth leadership projects, and a GRAD Partnership being launched with Johns Hopkins University to reduce chronic absenteeism in schools. Baum invited council members and staff to upcoming Project HOPE meetings for more detail; the work session recessed and the council reconvened for the full meeting at 6:30 p.m.