New Study Sheds Light on Income Inequality in Greater Miami

What to Know

  • The study unearthed many findings, including that the Miami metro area has the highest concentration of full-time resident billionaires.
  • Income inequality was measured using the Gini coefficient – the ratio of how a nation disperses its wealth among residents.
  • By that measure, Miami’s income inequality is similar to Panama and Colombia’s.

A new report is drawing a stark picture of economic inequality in the Miami metro area.

According to the study, which was conducted by Florida International University’s Miami Urban Future Initiative, the Miami metro area has the highest concentration of full-time resident billionaires in the country. More than 14 percent of all residents live in poverty.

The study also found that Miami has the highest rate of college graduates living in poverty – nearly 7 percent.

The authors of the study measured income inequality using the Gini coefficient – the ratio of how a nation disperses its wealth among residents. By that measure, Miami’s income inequality – which is 0.508 – is similar to Panama and Colombia’s.

Greater Miami has the second-highest rate of income inequality in the nation, the study says. Only New York’s rate is worse.

About 43 percent of Miami households currently qualify as middle class, a significant decline from 50 years ago. In 1969, 65 percent of locals were classified as middle class.

The median annual wage for a worker in Greater Miami is just under $32,000 – the third lowest in the country. Nearly half of the region’s workforce is service based, which includes low income jobs with wages far behind the national average.

The poverty rate for black residents is 23.3 percent, which is two and a half times higher than the white poverty rate, according to the study.

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