5 House Districts With the Skinniest Gaps Between the Haves and the Have-Nots

Here’s another installment in a series of articles we’re running about the demographic variables that shape House members’ lives, based on data from the Census Bureau’s 2017 American Community Survey results.

The Census Bureau sizes up the gaps between the haves and the have-nots in each congressional district by publishing district-level Gini index figures for income.

A Gini index is a measure of the level of inequality in a group of numbers.

A Gini index of 0 means all of the numbers are equal.

A Gini index of 1 means that one of the numbers is big and all of the other numbers are 0.

The Census Bureau says that, in 2017, U.S. congressional districts had a median Gini index of 0.46.

In 2017, at the congressional district level, Gini index figures ranged from a high of 0.62, in one very unequal district in Philadelphia, down to less than 0.40, in three districts.

Lawmakers and staffers associated with these districts might have more than an unusual level of appreciation for solid personal protection life insurance policies, ordinary income annuities, and other products aimed at regular people.

For the five districts with the lowest 2017 Gini index figures, see the data cards in the slideshow above.

— Connect with ThinkAdvisor Life/Health on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.