<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-12724" src="https://www.collegecareerlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/income-inequality-america.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="666" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Photo by <strong>Alexander Mils </strong>from <strong>Pexels</strong></p>
<p> ;</p>
<p>With demonstrations like Occupy Wall Street, protesters have brought visibility to the impact increasing income inequality has had on America over the course of the last 50 years. But despite all the attention given to the problem of income inequality, the problem is worsening. The <a href="https://www.collegecareerlife.net/should-the-recession-influence-your-choice-of-career/"><strong>Great Recession</strong></a> of 2008 did not help matters.</p>
<p>According to the most recent <strong><a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/news/data-releases.html?#">American Community Survey data</a></strong>, income inequality has increased in all 50 states from 2010 to 2017. <a href="https://www.zippia.com/"><strong>Zippia</strong></a> broke down the American Community Survey data in detail to see geographical trends in the data over the past 7 years of available data. Here’s what they found:</p>
<h2><strong>States Ranked by Income Inequality*:</strong></h2>
<ol>
<li>New York</li>
<li>Connecticut</li>
<li>Louisiana</li>
<li>California</li>
<li>Florida</li>
<li>Massachusetts</li>
<li>Georgia</li>
<li>Illinois</li>
<li>Texas</li>
<li>New Jersey</li>
<li>Tennessee</li>
<li>Mississippi</li>
<li>Alabama</li>
<li>New Mexico</li>
<li>Kentucky</li>
<li>North Carolina</li>
<li>Rhode Island</li>
<li>Arkansas</li>
<li>South Carolina</li>
<li>Pennsylvania</li>
<li>Arizona</li>
<li>Virginia</li>
<li>Michigan</li>
<li>Oklahoma</li>
<li>Ohio</li>
<li>Missouri</li>
<li>West Virginia</li>
<li>Oregon</li>
<li>Montana</li>
<li>Colorado</li>
<li>North Dakota</li>
<li>Delaware</li>
<li>Washington</li>
<li>Kansas</li>
<li>Maine</li>
<li>Nevada</li>
<li>Maryland</li>
<li>Indiana</li>
<li>Minnesota</li>
<li>Idaho</li>
<li>Vermont</li>
<li>South Dakota</li>
<li>Wisconsin</li>
<li>Iowa</li>
<li>Nebraska</li>
<li>Hawaii</li>
<li>New Hampshire</li>
<li>Wyoming</li>
<li>Utah</li>
<li>Alaska</li>
</ol>
<p>As for how the US compares to other countries, it is about as unequal as Haiti, El Salvador, Morocco, Uganda, and Jamaica. South Africa is the the most unequal in the world, while Iceland is the least unequal. The most unequal state, New York, is about as unequal as Brazil, Colombia, Panama, and Guinea-Bissau.</p>
<p>The following states had the greatest change in income inequality from 2010-2017: Montana, Delaware, California, Idaho, Rhode Island, Maine, New Mexico, New Jersey, Indiana, and Michigan.</p>
<p>*Based on the Gini Coefficient from the 2013-2017 American Communicty Survey. You can learn more about the Gini Coefficient <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p>
<p> ;</p>