A map of inequality in the country’s 50 largest cities in 2012.
Credit: Brookings Institution
Boston’s income gap is among the largest in the country, according to an analysis by a private research group.
In Boston, the richest 5 percent of households earned at least 15 times that of households in the 20th percentile of income, according to the Brookings Institution reportreleased on Thursday. The report uses U.S. Census data from 2012.
“The latest U.S. Census Bureau data confirm that, overall, big cities remain more unequal places by income than the rest of the country,” the report said.
The richest 5 percent of Boston households earned $223,838 in 2012, where the poorest 20 percent of households earned $14,604 in the same year.
“Large populations, diverse housing types and generally progressive politics mean that most cities will always have higher shares of the rich and poor than smaller places,” the report said. “But the contemporary causes and consequences of inequality in cities vary greatly across the national map.”
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