The Economist
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Mapping poverty in America
Posted
October 16, 2018
Views
180,201
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1,951
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October 16, 2018
180,201
1,951
470
1.34%
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2:34Now PlayingAmerica is the richest country in the world, but it also has one of the biggest divides between rich and poor. What can a zip code reveal about inequality?
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The United States is the world's richest country. It is also one of the most unequal. 40 million people live in poverty - that's around 12% of the population. It has the highest poverty rate in the rich world and three men own as much wealth as the bottom half of the population. The good news is that poverty has decreased over the past two years but income inequality has increased, resulting in a growing gap between the rich and the poor.
Although the cost of living varies from state to state, the poverty line is currently set at an annual household income of $25,100 for a family of four.
The wealthiest states are coastal, with the south having a higher concentration of poorer States. In Mississippi around 20% of people live below the poverty line. That's the highest percentage of any state in the country. In New Hampshire it's less than half that. California and Missouri have around the same percentage. Whereas poverty in neighboring Virginia and West Virginia is poles apart. Poverty rates can wildly vary between towns within states. Take Paris, Texas, which has a rate of 41% while in neighboring Reno it's just 3%.
The wealth divide can also be seen fluctuating between blocks and even streets. In different blocks on separate sides of Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, New York, the poverty rate is six times that of the other.
Poverty in America is not only geographical, it's also racial. African-Americans are more than twice as likely to live in poverty than white Americans, but it's Native Americans who have the highest poverty rate of any race in the country, and this is even higher for those who live on reservations. Poverty declined in the majority of states in 2017 . Income growth, welfare programs, and more jobs have led to the decline - but if the incomes of the top 1% continued to grow faster than those of the other 99%, the gap between the rich and the poor will continue to widen.
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