Utah household incomes most equally distributed in the nation

Gini in a Bottle. . .The Census Bureau just released a study on household income inequality using American Community Survey (ACS) data for 2005-2009. . .with interesting results.One of the nice things that the Census Bureau does with the ACS data is calculate Gini coefficients. The Gini coefficient is a ratio used to measure income inequality. Gini coefficients range between “0” (everyone has the exact same income) and “1” (one person has all the income).  A lower Gini coefficient indicates a more equal income distribution, while a higher Gini coefficient signifies a more unequal distribution. 

Interestingly, when areas nationwide are compared:

• The state with the lowest Gini coefficient? Utah (and Alaska--a tie).
• The metropolitan area with over 1 million population with the lowest Gini coefficient? Salt Lake City, Utah
• The large place (over 100,00 population) with the lowest Gini coefficient? West Jordan, Utah

Yes, in Utah our household incomes seem to be more equally distributed than in most areas of the United States.

Why? Without further research, we can only speculate. But, here are a few possible reasons:

• Demographically, we may be more homogenous--a high percentage of married couples (married couple households have higher incomes than other households), relatively small ethnic/racial minority share, because we have more children, our age distribution is flatter than other areas.
  
• The fact that such a high percentage of our population is urbanized may contribute to more equal incomes.
  
• Cultural norms towards higher education and hard work may also factor into more less income inequality. 
• Utah has a relatively high percentage of married couple households. Married couple households--regardless of whether or not both spouses work--tend to have higher and more stable incomes.
• Utah has a high number of workers per family (including teenagers).

Also, just one more thought about incomes. In Utah, we tend to love to talk about our "low wages" (a whole other subject worthy of  a post). However,  I rarely see mentioned that fact that Utah family incomes are higher than the national average.

Are more equal incomes good or bad? True to form, there's no general agreement among economists whether the increasing inequality the U.S. as experienced recently is good or bad. Some economists argue that unequal  incomes provide individuals with the incentive/reward to work harder and be more productive--thus increasing overall economic growth. Others denounce unequal incomes for producing bad social outcomes. As a public servant, I'll refrain from sharing my own opinion.

If you are interested in reading the whole report, click here.