Monday, August 14, 2017

Is Your Area Richer or Poorer? Your Data Is Now Served!

While revising a course on immigration, I came across a fascinating study by the Pew Foundation (it’s not fake news, I promise): “America’s Shrinking Middle Class: A Close Look at Changes Within Metropolitan Areas.” I combed the data for areas that correspond to ProfLERoy readers—if I missed your area, and you want the info, drop me a note at m-leroy@illinois.edu.
The study takes two snapshots, one in 2000 and one in 2014. 
It divides area populations by low-medium-high. 
It then computes a composite score (see red number). 
A positive value means your community grew wealthier; negative means… well, you get it.
In this teeny-tiny subset, Pittsburgh and Seattle are "wealth winners."  My home area of Champaign-Urbana is the biggest loser. Just guessing it's picking up the sharp decline in Rantoul, with a major base closure.
Here are selected cities [APOLOGIES ... THE TEXT DOESN'T IMPORT WELL INTO BLOGGER]:             
Distribution of adults by income tier (%)
2000                                2014                       NET CHANGE
Austin-Round Rock, TX  23.2        55.1        21.8       23.4        52.5    4.1       2.1
Champaign-Urbana, IL   28.6        53.5        17.9       35.9        44.4    19.7     -5.6
Chicago-Naper-Elg, IL    23.6        56.3        20.2        27.4        51.1    21.5      -2.6
Colorado Springs, CO     20.6        61.2        18.2        23.5        54.8    21.7       0.6
Denver-Aur.-Lake., CO  18.8        57.7        23.6         22.4        53.0     24.6       -2.7
Indy-Carmel-And., IN    19.9        58.9        21.2         24.4        54.8     20.8       -5.0
Palm B.-Mel.-Titus., FL  26.1        58.7        15.2         27.1        56.3     16.6       0.4
Pittsburgh, PA                   25.6        57.3        17.1        23.6        54.6   21.9        6.8
Seattle-Tac.-Bell., WA   20.1        59.4        20.5            21.3        52.6        26.2        4.6

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