Income inequality is on the American mind, with an economic crisis upon us, tensions on the streets, and a growing sense that an increasingly remote elite is controlling an increasingly disproportionate share of the nation’s wealth. Concerns are emanating from right, left and center. One prominent observer is now even arguing that an age of “neo-feudalism” is nigh.
Utah Foundation recently explored income inequality in a series of briefs in our “Significant Statistics” series. Our research found that the picture varies among counties and even within counties. Davis County, for instance, appears to have a relatively low level of income inequality countywide even as it maintains a high median income. The area that contains most of Salt Lake City had the highest income inequality of any measured area along the Wasatch Front, while the southwest portion of the county had among the lowest levels of inequality. Statewide, median incomes in more-rural areas tend to be much lower than in urban areas.