3-2 | State of Urban Connecticut
Residents in Connecticut’s urban areas are living with many issues that have arisen due to growing income inequality. This section presents conclusions and observations from previous studies and includes personal stories from focus group sessions that were conducted as part of this study. This section also includes policy recommendations.
3.1 Introduction Connecticut has some of the highest levels of poverty and income inequality in the United States. It ranks sixth in the nation with regard to the percentage of people earning annual incomes below the federal poverty line, and third in the nation in income inequality, which is defined as the ratio of the average income of persons in the top 1 percent compared to the average income of persons in the bottom 99 percent.41 As of 2015, the top 1 percent of families earn 37.2 times more than the bottom 99 percent in Connecticut (see Table 3-1). The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metro area is the most unequal metro area (ranked fifth in the nation) in Connecticut in terms of income inequality with the top 1 percent making 62.2 times more than the bottom 99 percent. Across the country, there is a huge difference by state and metro area in what it means to be in the top 1 percent. To be in the top 1 percent nationally in 2015, a family needed a minimum annual income of $421,926. Among all the states, Connecticut has the highest income threshold at $700,800 and the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metro was one of the five metros in the country with an income threshold above $1 million. Table 3-1: Ratio of top 1 percent annual income to bottom 99 percent income, and income threshold of top 1 percent, 2015. Source: E. Sommeiller and M. Price. 2018. The new gilded age: Income inequality in the U.S. by state, metropolitan area, and county. Economic Policy Institute, July 2018.
Region United States Connecticut Bridgeport-StamfordNorwalk, CT Torrington, CT New Haven-Milford, CT Hartford-W. HartfordE. Hartford, CT Norwich-New London, CT
Average income (top 1%) $1,316,985 $2,522,806 $6,290,951
Average income (bottom 99%) $50,107 $67,742 $101,213
Top-tobottom ratio 26.3 37.2 62.2
Income threshold of top 1% $421,926 $700,800 $1,447,109
$1,205,796 $1,097,930 $1,068,688
$60,395 $56,430 $62,849
20.0 19.5 17.0
$489,153 $463,530 $492,920
$822,069
$56,443
14.6
$399,480
Connecticut’s extreme income inequality in the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metro area is because the largest cities in this area have very different levels of household income. Bridgeport, the largest city in Connecticut, has a poverty rate of 22.1 percent, which is higher than the national average of 15.1 percent
41
In Connecticut, 10.4 percent of people fell below the federal poverty line (annual income of $24,340 for a family of four) in 2016. Source: United States Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2016.