Where to Find the Most Inequality

The gap between the rich and poor has increased in 94 of the 100 largest metropolitan areas since 1990. And the growth in the gap has accelerated in the past few years.

Those are some of the conclusions of a new report from the real estate firm Trulia. It found that Fairfield County, Conn. â€" home to hedge fund titans living in Greenwich as well as the impoverished city of Bridgeport â€" has the sharpest inequality, when comparing the 90th and 10th income percentiles. It should come as no surprise that New York City and San Francisco share space in that upper left-hand quadrant.

Florida retiree havens including Fort Myers and Lakeland have some of the lowest inequality measures, as did Allentown, Pa., Tacoma, Wash., and Las Vegas.

The report also took a close look at the relationship between housing costs and income inequality, given that high rents and prices can drive out middle-income workers and put significant burdens on the poor.

Trulia Income Inequality and Housing Affordability

In general, more affordable housing correlates with lower income inequality. Moderately priced homes might draw working families in a metro area. And having rising incomes at the top might price lower-income families out.

Faster-growing metro areas tend to see more inequality too, it found, a finding backed up by recent research by the Brookings Institution. And only six regions out of the 100 studied have had a decline in inequality since the 1990s, with income disparities increasing most sharply in San Francisco, now in the midst of a technology boom.

 

The 10 Metros Where Inequality Increased Most
#	U.S. Metro	Change in 90/10 ratio, 2012 versus 1990
1	San Francisco, CA	7.4
2	Fairfield County, CT	7.0
3	San Jose, CA	5.1
4	Orange County, C	4.2
5	Springfield, MA	4.0
6	Boston, MA	4.0
7	Oakland, CA	3.9
8	New Haven, CT	3.7
9	Honolulu, HI	3.7
10	Hartford, CT	3.7
Note: the 90/10 ratio is the ratio of income at the 90th percentile to income at the 10th percentile, for a given metropolitan area. A higher ratio means greater income inequality.

 

 

The report may add fuel to the debate among policy makers in cities and towns across the country who are trying to tackle income inequality at a local level, with Congress sharply divided and generally hamstrung on the issue. Most notably, Mayor Bill de Blasio has vowed to tackle New York’s inequities with new taxes on the well-off and universal prekindergarten programs. And in San Francisco, protesters upset with rising rents and the influx of highly paid tech workers have picketed buses picking up employees of tech firms, like Google.