Manhattan Has Widest Wealth Gap in U.S.

East Coast politicians talking about inequality might want to look in their own backyard. The top 5 percent of households in Manhattan earn 88 times what the poorest 20 percent make, according to new Census data. The income for the top percent rose 9 percent from 2012 to 2013 (the final year of the Bloomberg administration) to $864,394. Overall in New York City, household income went up in every borough except Staten Island. Overall in the U.S., while the poverty rate declined from 15.0 percent to 14.5 percent, the number of people living in poverty (45.3 million) did not change.