Hello everyone,
I was wondering whether ACS data on inequality measures such as the Gini coefficient, median income by quintiles for counties with +65,000 inhabitants will be published for 2020. I could not find anything in the experimental data release. To my knowledge, the ACS local income inequality data is the best data for investigating local inequality trends.
I am a PhD student in economics and would like to use the data for a Covid related research project :-)
Thank you very much in advance!
As an aside, I find that the Gini coefficient (which is available in ACS) is a problematic indicator at the local level. At a national, or possibly state and county level, it makes sense, allowing you to compare the distribution of wealth across different societies/regimes. However, at a local level, I think it needs to be seen very differently. Although we might view income inequality in society as problematic, at the local level, it suggests social heterogeneity; high and low income level living alongside each other, interacting socially and economically. A low Gini coefficient at the local level usually means a segregated population; a gated community or a neighborhood of disinvestment. Curious if other people feel the same or differently, or have alternate indicators of inequality they use.