A recent U.S. Census survey reveals that Connecticut has one of the highest median household incomes in the country, but wealth in the state remains heavily skewed.
Data from the American Community Survey shows that Connecticut ranked fifth in the U.S. for median income, The Hartford Courant reported. The state’s median income rose about 6 percent from the year ranges 2008-2012 to 2013-2017, Connecticut Data Collaborative executive director Michelle Riordan-Nold said.
Nine of the 10 towns with the state’s highest household income between 2013 and 2017 were in Fairfield County, an area with ties to Wall Street, according to the data. The cities of New Haven, Hartford and Bridgeport were all in the lower range.
Economist Don Klepper-Smith said he believes the data shows a divided state.
“The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer,” Klepper-Smith said. “There are those who are not participating in economic growth.”
Median household income fell in 40 towns in the 2013-2017 period compared to the 2008-2012 period. There were increases in median household incomes in 129 towns, according to the Connecticut Data Collaborative.
“The message is, there’s not one Connecticut economy,” Klepper-Smith said. “There are 169 economies.”
Across the U.S., median household income increased in 17 percent of the 3,142 counties surveyed while poverty increased in 264 counties, according to the survey.
Connecticut’s unemployment rate is higher than the national average, the newspaper reported.