Ohio incomes are staggeringly unequal, nation's are even worse
Posted July 19, 2018 in Press Releases
A new report finds that Ohio’s wealthiest 1 percent made on average 18.6 times more than the average income of all other Ohio families in 2015, before taxes and transfers. The national report, by economists Estelle Sommeiller and Mark Price, was published by the Economic Policy Institute. Using Sommeiller and Price’s data, Policy Matters Ohio released an Ohio-specific analysis. Nationally, the wealthiest 1 percent earned 26 times the average earner in the bottom 99 percent combined.
The average earner in the top 1 percent of households in Ohio brought in more than $858,000 in 2015, while the average earner in the bottom 99 percent combined earned just $46,157.
The report examines the gap between incomes of the top 1 percent and the bottom 99 percent by metropolitan area, county and state. By that measure, Cleveland-Elyria was Ohio’s most unequal metro area and Hamilton County its most unequal county in 2015. As a state, Ohio ranked 29th most unequal.
“Rising inequality affects virtually every part of the country, not just large urban areas or financial centers,” said Policy Matters Ohio’s Ben Stein. “It’s a persistent problem here in Ohio—in big cities and small towns across the state. Ohio’s workers—and the nation’s—deserve a fair share of the wealth they help to create.”