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This study uses intergenerational data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to investigate the relationship between men's economic status and the characteristics of the families and communities in which they grew up. It is distinguished from most previous studies by its emphasis on community influences and on influences from poverty and welfare use. Also, our parental characteristics data are more comprehensive and accurate than those of many earlier studies. We find substantial disadvantages in economic status for black men, men from lower-income families, and men from more welfare-dependent families or communities. Otherwise, we do not find strong evidence of community influences. This, however, might be due to the grossness of the geographic detail at which our community variables are measured.