This executive summary highlights research findings on outcomes in education, employment, and income in the southern United States region. Findings include: (1) As a whole, Southern schools, colleges, and universities perform better than ever, though they are in constant need of improvement to meet the demands of both democracy and a changing economy. Most Southern states still lag the national average in K-12 achievement, and blacks and Latinos lag white students in both K-12 achievement and postsecondary degree attainment--the latter a threshold that is increasingly necessary to attain family-sustaining wages; (2) Though median income has grown, there are still staggering disparities across racial lines, and children born into low-income households have little chance of doing better than their parents; (3) The South has hubs of excellence and innovation in medicine, health, and science, providing the benefits of modern medicine and hospitals, networks of well-trained providers, and improved public health programs. Yet millions of Southerners still lack adequate health insurance. The failure to expand Medicaid in states across the South not only has made it difficult for patients to receive and afford care, but for hospitals to keep their doors open. The number of rural hospital closings is rising, often in areas with the poorest health, signaling the creation of health care deserts; and (4) Charleston, Biloxi, and New Orleans have largely recovered from devastating storms of a decade or more ago, even as several Texas and Florida cities were hit hard by hurricanes in 2017. Yet the South's vast coast, enjoyed by residents and vacationers, is increasingly vulnerable to intense storms and sea-level rise, threatening both trade and tourism. [For the full report, see ED589031.]