10 Illinois Counties With the Lowest Rates of Income Inequality

High income inequality occurs when people who make a lot of money and people who make not very much money live in close proximity to each other. Based on stagnating wages for the poor and middle class and increasing wages for the very rich, income inequality in the U.S. has been increasing for the last 30 years, says Inequality.org.

Illinois is the 36th most income unequal state in the country. Washington, D.C. has the most inequality, while Alaska has the smallest income gap in the country.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says that the richest 5 percent of Illinois' households have incomes that are nearly 15 times higher than the poorest 20 percent and nearly five percent higher than the middle 20 percent.

Though Illinois' overall state rank means it has less income inequality than much of the country, its individual communities have different income inequality rates.

Here are the top 10 most income equal counties in Illinois, meaning everyone who lives there makes a similar amount of money.

Check out Reboot Illinois to see those counties' national inequality rankings, plus see the most income unequal counties in the state.

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