Providence ranks among top 5 cities for income inequality

January 16, 2016 9:26 am

By The Associated Press

news@abc6.com

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) _ The Brookings Institution think tank says Providence had one of the largest income gaps in the country in 2014, according to Census data it analyzed.

The top 5 percent of earners in Providence made 15 times what the bottom 20 percent did, ranking it No. 5 in income inequality among cities nationwide.

Providence‘s bottom 20 percent earned $12,795 in 2014, while the top 5 percent made at least $196,691.

The data show pay plummeting in U.S. cities for those at the bottom, with many of the poorest households still earning a fraction of what they made before the recession in 2007.

Household income for Providence’s poorest decreased by 8 percent since 2007.

The broader Providence region ranked 14th among metro areas for income inequality.