Atlanta is unfortunately the U.S. capital of income inequality again

Anyone who’s spent significant time in Atlanta has probably realized the city is a study in extreme wealth and poverty, a place where one of America’s wealthiest zip codes flourishes maybe a 10-minute drive from a civic hellscape of drugs and disinvestment.

Tragically, so are most American metropolises.

But the problem of income inequality is more dire now in Atlanta than any other U.S. city, per a Bloomberg ranking released this week.

The unfortunate news echoes findings in recent years by the Brookings Institute, which labeled Atlanta the country’s most unequal city for a second year running in 2015, finding that top household incomes were 20 times those at the bottom.

Per Bloomberg, Atlanta has unseated Miami—the leader/loser the past two years—in terms of income disparities among residents.

New Orleans ranked No. 2, with Philadelphia rising/slipping drastically to No. 3.

Bloomberg

Atlanta’s a hodgepodge of Coca-Cola and Delta bigwigs, where 18 percent of households pull in at least $150,000, but with nearly a quarter of the remaining populace living in poverty, Bloomberg reports, citing U.S. Census data.

As one researcher noted: ”At the high end, [Atlanta] looks like one of the most successful American cities, like a San Francisco or a New York or a Washington. But at its low end, one of America’s poor cities.”

Ouch.

• Atlanta Ranks Worst in Income Inequality in the U.S. [Bloomberg]