Poverty Rate Is Up in New York City, and Income Gap Is Wide, Census Data Show - NYTimes.com
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/nyregion/poverty-rate-in-city-rises-to-21-2.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_2013
The poverty rate rose to 21.2 percent in 2012, from 20.9 percent the year before, meaning that 1.7 million New Yorkers fell below the official federal poverty threshold. That increase was not statistically significant, but the rise from the 2010 rate of 20.1 percent was.
A yawning income gap seemed to show a city that has become stratified with wealth concentrated in a small percentage of the population.
Citywide, the mean income of the lowest fifth was $8,993, while the highest fifth made $222,871 and the top 5 percent made $436,931 — about 49 times as much as those with the lowest income.
Manhattan retained the dubious distinction of having the biggest income gap of any big county in the country. The mean income of the lowest fifth was $9,635, compared with $389,007 for the top fifth and $799,969 for the top 5 percent — more than an eightyfold difference between bottom and top.