Mapping inequality

An interactive map at nytimes.com gives a glimpse into the regional difference that exist in income, differences that demonstrate that inequality is as much a regional as racial or class issue.

Imagine a family with a total income of $150,000. If you live in the northern half of New Jersey for instance, you fall into the top 21 percentile in income. Head south in the state — to Atlantic City — and that same family income total places you in the top 9 percent. Head west into Ohio or Michigan, and you’re in the top 4-7 percent. You’re no richer and, aside from your housing costs, your expenses are not measurably different, but suddenly you’re in the upper echelon of earners.

I don’t know that there is much to say about this, but it does highlight the damage done to smaller communities and makes it clear that even those making a decent wage cannot expect it to go all that far.

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• Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
• Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet