It's not exactly news that the wealth gap between the richest and poorest Americans is really more of, well, a gorge. California, for example, has one of the highest levels of income inequality in the nation, with both the largest population of the super rich and record levels of poverty (when the cost of living is considered). With an eye toward more national trends, Pacific Standard looked at data releasedthis week by the Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates program.
Estimating income and poverty levels for all 3,141 counties across the United States, the Census Bureau found that median household income between the richest (Falls Church, Virginia) and poorest (Buffalo County, South Dakota) counties varied by more than $100,000. Additionally, between 2007 and 2014, 26 percent of counties saw poverty levels climb, while poverty levels decreased in only one percent of all counties.
[For more of this story, written by Kate Wheeling, go to http://www.psmag.com/business-...d-states-in-pictures]
Comments (0)