The graph below shows representation of Army, Navy, Air Force Active Duty and Army Reserve recruits by income range. Each bar represents the ratio of two proportions: the share of total recruits living in zip code areas whose median household income fall within the range over the share of the total population living in such zip codes. A score of more than one means the income range is over-represented in the army. A score of less than one means the range is under-represented. Note that the peak of the bars falls in the range of $25,000 - $54,999. In other words, neighborhoods with low to middle median household incomes are over-represented. Neighborhoods with high median household incomes are under-represented.
Data and statistics are available by zip code, school, county, and state on the NPP Database [1].
Notes: Army, Navy and Air Force Active Duty and Army Reserves are included. Recruits which came from zip codes with median household incomes of zero, or less than $5,000 were supressed since that effectively means there is incomplete data on the zip codes in which they lived. About 2% of recruits were suppressed. Data were obtained from the armed forces through FOIA requests submitted by Peacework Magazine.
Links:
[1] http://database.nationalpriorities.org