Yes, I notice this, however, they picked the ZIP code methodology and I think they had their reasons. It might be not the best methodology, but I have more problems to find the idea of hundreds of thousands of relative rich people living in areas with lower income and sending their children to the army very convincing.
I dunno, you might be surprised. This is obviously anecdotal, and as a result useless in proving a wider trend, but I think it's worth mentioning.
In the town I grew up in, there was a pretty visible economic divide. It was a small village in a rural area, build completely around a "preftigous" tiny little liberal arts school. The town was part doctors, lawyers, professors, and administrators, and part engineers, mechanics, teachers, and service workers.
Of the poor families, the kids in my graduation class broke down as follows:
A small chunk left town to go to university
A big chunk stayed in town to go to one of the community colleges
A small chunk just went right into the workforce
One or two went into the military
Of the rich families, they broke down as follows:
A big chunk left town to go to university
A small chunk stayed to go to community college
A very small chunk went into the workforce
A decent sized handful/double handful went into the military, a few through enlisting, but a bunch by entering ROTC programs/military colleges.
So, take that for what it's worth, but I saw a surprising number of kids coming from very privileged backgrounds who wanted to prove themselves in the military (usually to the chagrin of their parents).
(And with that post, I'm off to class. :lol: )
