The gap between the haves and have-nots in the United States grew last year to its highest level in more than 50 years of tracking income inequality, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released this morning. Louisiana is among the states with the most income inequality, according to the report, though state-by-state data has yet to be released.
Income inequality in the U.S. expanded from 2017 to 2018, with several heartland states among the leaders of the increase, even though several wealthy coastal states still had the most inequality overall, according to the figures.
The nation’s Gini Index, which measures income inequality, has been rising steadily over the past five decades. The Gini Index grew from 0.482 in 2017 to 0.485 last year, according to the bureau’s one-year American Community Survey data. The Gini Index is on a scale of 0 to 1; a score of “0” indicates perfect equality, while a score of 1 indicates perfect inequality, where one household has all the income.
The inequality expansion last year took place at the same time median household income nationwide increased to almost $62,000, the highest ever measured by the American Community Survey.
The areas with the most income inequality last year were coastal regions with large amounts of wealth—the District of Columbia, New York and Connecticut—as well as areas with great poverty: Puerto Rico and Louisiana. Utah, Alaska, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota had the most economic equality. Three of the states with the biggest gains in inequality from 2017 to 2018 were places with large pockets of wealth: California, Texas and Virginia. But the other six states were primarily in the heartland: Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire and New Mexico. Read the full report.
