Mapping incomes
Income disparities are real—and getting more extreme. Maps of income distribution in U.S. cities reveal subtleties and surprises.
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Along the curving streets of Beverly Hills in greater Los Angeles, gracious homes occupy large, manicured lots liberally sprinkled with swimming pools and tennis courts. A few miles to the southeast, modest, low-slung dwellings crowd the gritty, gridded streets of Watts.
Similarly, in Chicago, occupants of the luxury lakeshore high-rises of the Gold Coast can gaze through binoculars at the chronically poor neighborhoods south and west of the Loop.
To one degree or another, these stark contrasts characterize almost every U.S. city. And as income disparity continues to increase, so do the contrasts. The maps in this story explore patterns of wealth and poverty in a handful of American cities. By visualizing income data in three different ways—specifically, by mapping income predominance, income extremes, and income diversity—we can begin to discern general patterns in the distribution of earnings within and between America's urban centers.
Map 1: Predominance
Map 2: Wealth and poverty concentrations
Nationwide, around a quarter of all households earn less than $25,000 each year, and another quarter or so earn at least $100,000 per year.
Map 3: Diversity
The previous maps suggest that income is not evenly distributed across urban geographies—but some areas are notably more income-diverse than others.
Now that we've explained the maps, let's look at patterns of wealth and poverty in a few cities across the United States.
Los Angeles
Mansions in Beverly Hills; cheek-by-jowl bungalows in South Los Angeles
In many ways Los Angeles is a bellwether for the nation. While people of color will make up the majority of the U.S. population by 2044, Los Angeles crossed that threshold in the 1980s. Economic opportunity is spread unevenly across LA's population—and its geography.
New York City
Tony apartments and townhouses on Manhattan's Upper East Side; public housing in the Bronx's Mott Haven neighborhood
The densely populated boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn are largely divided into distinct income categories, although gentrification, particularly in Brooklyn, is raising income levels in some areas.
Detroit
A wealthy Detroit suburb; vacant lots not far from GM's Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant
Some recent media reports have claimed that a renaissance is underway in Detroit, a city long beleaguered by dramatic reductions in manufacturing employment. Unfortunately, this resurgence is limited to a few localities in the urban core, while income disparities in other areas continue to mount.
Philadelphia
Leafy estates in Ardmore along the Philadelphia Main Line; row houses in the Kensington neighborhood north of Center City
In stark contrast to Detroit, Philadelphia's center city is thriving. Yet other neighborhoods continue to experience chronic poverty.
Houston
Gracious homes near Rice University; modest garden apartments in the Gulfton neighborhood
Houston has the outer ring of wealthy suburbs that typifies most American cities. But like Philadelphia, portions of the inner city are also affluent.
Nationwide
It's an oversimplification, perhaps, but largely true: Wealth is concentrated in America's cities, while rural areas are less affluent and less upwardly mobile.