10 States Where Income Inequality Is Growing Fastest

Income inequality is increasing nationwide and new data from the Census Bureau shows which states have it worst. Maine, West Virginia and California all count among states where the wealth gap is expanding fastest.

The gap between the richest and poorest residents of 20 states increased last year, while remaining about the same for the remaining 30, according to newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau. No states saw significant decreases in their levels of income inequality.

The findings are hardly surprising. Currently, the wealth held by the top 400 Americans is more than the combined wealth of the bottom 150 million, as economist Robert Reich pointed out earlier this year.

Indeed, income inequality in the U.S. has gotten so bad that a recent study found that it is now worse than in 1774, even accounting for slavery, and even worse than during the Roman Empire.

(Hat tip: Governing.com)

Here are the 10 states with the greatest income inequality: