This SC city among 5 worst for income inequality in the US, new report shows. Here’s why

Columbia is one of the worst cities for income inequality in the U.S., a new report shows.

According to the report by GoBankingRates, the South Carolina city ranked fourth among the 50 U.S. cities with the most income inequality.

The report on income inequality — the measurement of how unevenly income is distributed in a population — analyzed U.S. cities with a total population of 100,000 people or more. It also used the Gini Index for measuring income inequality in a single statistic. The Gini coefficient ranges from 0, indicating perfect equality (where everyone gets an equal share), to 1, perfect inequality (where only one group of recipients get all the income).

Factors such as each city’s bottom 20% of earner’s average income, top 20% of earner’s average income, bottom 20% of earner’s share of wealth, top 20% of earner’s share of wealth and the median household income were also used to determine the rankings.

Here’s what the report found for Columbia.

Columbia

• Gini index: 0.5572
• Bottom 20% average income: $7,762
• Top 20% average income: $257,842
• Top 5% average income: $507,603
• Bottom 20% share of wealth: 1.77%
• Top 20% share of wealth: 58.52%
• Median household income: $54,095

Other key findings in the report

• Atlanta ranked as the city with the most income inequality. The bottom 20% in Atlanta earn an average income of $11,221 compared to $384,230 in the top 20%.
• There were six Florida cities among those with the most income inequality.
• Five California cities ranked among the top 50 for income inequality.
• No city in the top 10 has a median household income greater than $100,000. And only five cities — Berkeley, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Stamford and Scottsdale — have a $100,000-plus median household income.

Top 10 cities with most income inequality

1. Atlanta, GA
2. Boulder, CO
3. New Orlean, LA
4. Columbia, SC
5. Miami, FL
6. Baton Rouge, LA
7. New York, NY
8. Tampa, FL
9. Cincinnati, OH
10. Tuscaloosa, AL

Patrick McCreless

The State

803-771-8353

Patrick McCreless is the Southeast service journalism editor for McClatchy, who leads and edits a team of six reporters in South Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi. The team writes about trending news of the day and topics that help readers in their daily lives and better informs them about their communities. He attended Jacksonville State University in Alabama and grew up in Tuscaloosa, AL.