New York’s Manhattan Island is home to the biggest income gap of any county in the United States, with the top 5 percent of households earning 88 times as much as the poorest 20 percent,
according to Census Bureau data reported by The New York Times.
Those top households earned $864,394,
according to the 2013 American Community Survey released Thursday. The mean income of the top 5 percent was up 9 percent in 2013 over the previous year.
Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll
“The recovery seems to be going to those at the top, much more than those in the middle, while those at the bottom may even be losing ground,” sociologist Andrew A. Beveridge, of Queens College of the City University of New York, told the Times.
The high income disparity may be the result, at least in part, of increasing housing and the lack of public assistance for needy families, Beveridge said.
New York City’s poverty rate was stable at about 21 percent, the Times reported, with about 1.7 million residents living below the federal poverty threshold. But in the metropolitan area, more people lived in poverty in 2013 than in 2012.
“It means that despite the fact that the recession is over we’re still seeing no basic improvement in poverty levels, and for African-Americans it seems to be getting gradually worse,” David R. Jones, president of the Community Service Society, told the Times. “The escalation in rents is driving people to the wall.”
Other cities across the United States used the Census Bureau data to determine the economic status of their communities, among other things.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that income levesl and poverty rates weren’t statistically different for most states from 2012 to 2013.
Among the numerous statistics included in the survey was information about health insurance, internet access, and income rates.
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.