“Since the late 1970s, income inequality in the U.S. has grown by nearly 20%. The Great Recession has brought the disparity between the rich and the poor to the forefront of the news. The Occupy Wall Street movement and terms such as the 99% and 1% further highlight the attention about the subject. Instead of improving after the recession, income inequality rose 1.6% between 2010 and 2011.

“The reasons some states have more income inequality than others are varied, but the industrial makeup of these states is perhaps chief among them. States with a disproportionate representation of industries with the potential for extremely high-income positions are more likely to have higher income inequality than those with more diverse industries.

“In this environment, “it’s really tough for workers to get good wage increases at the middle when there are unemployed workers who could replace you if you start making big wage demands,” Director of Research and Policy at the Economic Policy Institute,  Josh Bivens said.

“Based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 10 states with the widest gap between rich and poor, as measured by states’ Gini coefficient scores. In addition to these scores, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed median income and the distribution of household income provided by the Census Bureau for these states. We also reviewed the percentage of households living below the poverty line and the percentage of households receiving food stamps. Additionally, we looked at the Institute for Policy Studies’ Inequality Report Card, which provided grades to senators and congressmen based on their voting record related to income inequality.”

Click here to be redirected to the 24/7 Wall Street article showing the states with the widest gap between rich and poor.