INCOME INEQUALITY HAS GROWN IN ILLINOIS

Illinois Among States with

Highest Income Inequality
Ratio of average household income for the
richest 20% of households to the poorest 20%
of households, 2008-2010
9.9
9.8
9.5
9.3
9.2
8.8
8.6
8.3
8.3
8.3
8.3
8.3
8.2
8.2
8.1
8.0
7.9
7.8
7.8
7.6 Kentucky
Tennessee
Alabama
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Virginia
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
New Jersey
Mississippi
Illinois
Massachusetts
Texas
Louisiana
New York
Georgia
California
Arizona
New Mexico
Incomes of Illinois's Richest Households Dwarf Those of Its Poorest
A Lost Decade for Illinois's Low- and
Middle-Income Households
Inequality Worsening Since
the 1970s
The richest 5 percent of households have average
incomes 14.6 times as large as the bottom 20
percent of households and 4.9 times as large as the
middle 20 percent of households.
After decades of widening inequality, Illinois's richest
households have dramatically bigger incomes than
its poorest households.
Change in income by household income group,
late 1990s to mid-2000s
% -15.2
% -3.9
% 11.4
% 22.7
Richest
5%
Richest
20%
Middle
20%
Poorest
20%
Change in income by household income group,
late 1970s to mid-2000s
P U L L I N G A P A R T
Source: Economic Policy Institute/Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Income is post-federal tax and includes the value of the EITC and the value of
food stamps and housing subsidies. Income is adjusted for inflation (to 2009 dollars) and for household size. Changes shown are significant at the 90% level. For more detail, see Pulling
Apart: A State-by-State Analysis of Income Trends, November 2012.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
cbpp.org | offthechartsblog.org epi.org | epi.org/blog
% 18.8
% 68.6
% 123.0
Richest
5%
Richest
20%
Middle
20%
Poorest
20%
No
change
Richest 5% Middle 20% Poorest 20%
$303,500 $61,700 $20,800
-15.2
The average drop in
incomes among the
bottom 20 percent of
households over the
last decade.
%