Income inequality is a persistent, growing problem in the United States, the Economic Policy Institute reports, and it’s gotten worse “in every state since the 1970s.” Americans in the top 1 percent of earners make an average of $1.32 million per year, compared to those in the bottom 99 percent, who earn just $50,107.
“In 2015, a family in the top 1 percent nationally received, on average, 26.3 times as much income as a family in the bottom 99 percent,” the EPI reports.
To find out where people in the top 1 percent make the most compared to those in the bottom 99 percent, How Much used EPI data to plot the average annual income for top earners in each state against that of the rest of the earners there.
In the chart below, the blue dot represents the average annual income for those in the bottom 99 percent and the red dot represents average annual income for those in the top 1 percent. The gray bar in between represents the size of the gap: The longer the bar, the larger the distance between the groups.
How Much: Income inequality in the United States.
Here are the top 10 places with the highest income inequality in the U.S.:
Average annual income of bottom 99 percent: $67,700
Average annual income of top 1 percent: $2.5 million
Average annual income of bottom 99 percent: $49,600
Average annual income of top 1 percent: $2.2 million
Average annual income of bottom 99 percent: $61,700
Average annual income of top 1 percent: $1.9 million
Average annual income of bottom 99 percent: $60,900
Average annual income of top 1 percent: $1.9 million
Average annual income of bottom 99 percent: $61,100
Average annual income of top 1 percent: $1.9 million
Average annual income of bottom 99 percent: $55,200
Average annual income of top 1 percent: $1.7 million
Average annual income of bottom 99 percent: $65,100
Average annual income of top 1 percent: $1.6 million
Average annual income of bottom 99 percent: $39,100
Average annual income of top 1 percent: $1.5 million
Average annual income of bottom 99 percent: $52,200
Average annual income of top 1 percent: $1.4 million
Average annual income of bottom 99 percent: $57,100
Average annual income of top 1 percent: $1.4 million
The states with the biggest gaps, Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts, “have well-documented wealth inequality problems,” the report says.
Wyoming, another state near the top, is home to part of the Jackson metro area, which also stretches across the border into Idaho. Jackson is the “most unequal location in the entire country,” thanks in part to extremely wealthy residents like former Vice President Dick Cheney and Walmart heiress Christy Walton, one of the richest billionaires of 2018. The average 1 percenter there makes an astounding $16.2 million a year.
“Our visualization highlights the yawning gap between the top 1 percent of earners and the bottom 99 percent,” says How Much, and, “indeed, the gap is staggering.”
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