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A short drive through Miami often reveals there’s a big difference between the haves and the have-nots in this town. One minute you’re surrounding by luxury high rises and fancy restaurants, the next you’re in the middle of run-down homes and check cashing stores.
So it’s no surprise that the Miami area cracked the top ten list for America’s most economically segregated metros.
According to a report from Pew Social & Demographic Trends, the Miami metro area is the 10th most economically segregated area in America. Huffington Post tabulated the rankings from Pew’s data.
In Miami, 34 percent of all households are considered lower income, and 21 percent are considered upper income.
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Miami received a Residential Income Segregation Index Score of 49 for 2010. That’s a hefty rise since our 1980 score of 30.
Pew put together the following map of Miami’s income disparity. Poorer areas are in red. Richer areas are in blue. Mixed or middle class area are left white.
Residential income segregation is a growing trend throughout all of America, which is unsurprisingly related to America’s overall rise in income inequality.
Ever since the ’80s, the poor have gotten poorer. The rich have gotten richer. And the middle class shrinks. Ain’t much trickling down going on here.
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