Just looked at some census data on income inequality in the US and honestly it's pretty wild how much the wealth gap varies by state. Like the national Gini coefficient sits around 48%, but some states are way more extreme than others.

District of Columbia is off the charts - top 5% averaging $719k while bottom 20% are making around $14k. That's insane. Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York are also pretty brutal with similar gaps. But what's interesting is that income inequality in the US isn't just a big city problem - Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas show huge disparities too, even though they're lower-income states overall.

The data shows Mississippi has the lowest average income for the bottom 20% at about $10.7k, while DC's top earners are making 50x that. Florida's wealth gap is particularly striking - $460k difference between top and bottom earners. Makes you think about what income inequality in the US really means for average people trying to get by.

Connecticut and New York actually have some of the highest top-5% incomes in the country, but that just emphasizes how disconnected the wealthy are from everyone else. Even states like Illinois and Arkansas with slightly lower Gini coefficients still show massive income inequality in the US when you look at actual dollar amounts. It's like two completely different economies in the same country.