Atlanta Has The Highest Income Inequality In The Nation

By Jasmine Browley· Updated January 18, 2023

Census data reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows that Atlanta has the starkest chasm between the rich and the poor among cities with more than 100,000 residents.

The outlet pointed out that the city’s ranking are based on the Gini coefficient, a point of measurement used by economists and organizations worldwide to analyze income inequality. The most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureaufrom 2016 to 2020 show that Atlanta has a Gini coefficient of 0.5786 and has reportedly dominated the country in this ranking for at least 10 years now.

For example, any regions with a score of zero, every member earns the same amount of money.

Comparatively, New York City ranked No. 7 with a coefficient of 0.5470; New Orleans is at No. 2 with a coefficient of 0.5655, and Tampa is ranked No. 8 with a score of 0.5426. Phoenix, Arizona — ranked No. 119 on the list, with a Gini coefficient score of 0.4710 — occupies the other end.

“When a very large percentage is vulnerable to that kind of economic pressure, it says that we have a lot of work to do,” said Kyle Waide, president and CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank as reported by Yahoo.

These figures are interesting since Atlanta and Georgia’s economy has boasted rapid growth over the past few decades. The city is top-ranked on many business list for Fortune 500 companies.

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