Poverty in America

The Sad Truth About American Poverty

Depending on who you are and where you are from, you may think that Americans are either extremely rich or extremely poor. Many Americans truly do fit on one of these extreme ends of the spectrum. The middle class has been shrinking for decades and it is easy to assume that we are a society that is divided by social class. The sad truth is that we are so divided that most of us cannot even notice.

What I mean is that rich and poor Americans live in completely different worlds that often do not overlap at all. The wealthy people of this country live in certain towns, shop at specific stores and may not interact with people who are struggling financially on a day to day basis. Let me show you.

These two images show one of the saddest realities about life in America. The color of each dot represents the average wealth distribution of a particular area. Notice clusters of extreme wealth in the Northeast corridor, particularly between Boston and Washington D.C., and in California. Also pay attention to just how dark most of the rest of the country is. This is what I mean. 

Let's zoom in.

This is the world that I grew up in. For most of my life I never left the area of this map. I thought I knew how the world worked; my childhood was surrounded by affluence. I thought that three car garages, granite countertops, private schools and expensive clothes were average. It was rare that I interacted with someone who came from a different world. Nearly my entire region belonged to the wealthiest 5% of society, but I had no idea.

Imagine what it might be like living here instead.

In fact, it is much more likely to come from a place like this than from where I did. Dark shades of impoverished blue cover the majority of the country. Living here, it may be possible to think that wealth is made up and that average means government assistance, living paycheck to paycheck and wondering if you and your family will have enough to eat. 

Bridging the Gap

We truly are more divided as a country than many of us even know. We are so segregated by class that it is really difficult to see those who are not like us, even when we are paying attention. Our perceptions of our country are so skewed. Perhaps the best thing for all of us would be if these colors were spread more evenly around the map. We could all learn so much from increased exposure to those who are the most different from us. 

D.C. Goes Black to White

D.C. White Influx

Starting around 1950 and continuing for decades, many major American cities saw white residents move away while African American populations rose. Concepts of white-flight and urban poverty came into being as affluence migrated outward to the suburbs. Many demographic changes over the last 15 years have begun to reverse many of these trends; urban crime rates are falling, property values are rising and people are sick of long commutes. At the forefront of these changes lies Washington D.C., a historically African American city that is now increasingly turning White.

Since the 1950's D.C. has been predominantly African American and has been known as a city of racial tension and division. For decades, affluent White Americans avoided living in the city and despite increasing numbers of African Americans, the city's population fell. I remember even as a kid in the early 1990's I was told that D.C. was not a nice place to be.

But right around the year 2000 something started to change. People actually started to want to live close to where they worked and did not want to spend hours each day in the car. Parents became sick of driving their kids everywhere and wished that things were within walking distance. Urban drug wars were finished and violent crime rates fell. Suburbanites began to move back into D.C. and property values started to rise quickly. For the first time in 50 years The District became "desirable" and Whites came back. The percentage of African Americans living in D.C. has fallen from around 70% in 1950 to just over 50% today.

Whites are moving in, but why are African Americans leaving? 

They cannot afford to stay. The income gap between White Americans and African Americans has largely held steady over time. Whites make about 70% more money than African Americans in America. A 70% decrease in income is enough to price almost anyone out of a gentrifying neighborhood. 

As you can see from the graph above, home prices skyrocketed after 2000 and in the following decade prices nearly tripled. Income certainly did not, especially not for African Americans. Nobody knows exactly what will happen over the next ten years, but we may actually start to see a full reversal. Suburbs may eventually be reserved for lower-income non-White groups while wealthy individuals mostly white will be concentrated in the urban core.