By Elizabeth Zach, RCAC staff writer
A survey of economic well-being among Americans finds that 17 percent live in economically distressed communities. The same study shows that 27 percent of the American population live in prosperous areas.
The Economic Innovation Group has published its Distressed Communities Index (DCI), which is based on U.S. Census Bureau data. It covers 26,000 zip codes in both rural and urban areas, and categorizes economic well-being in terms of prosperous, comfortable, mid-tier, at risk and distressed.
According to the researchers who surveyed Americans’ economic well-being, bridging the divide between rich and poor will require a nuanced response from lawmakers.
“The challenge of ‘reconnecting’ distressed communities is urgent and complex—especially so for policymakers,” they write. “Fortunately, hard work, ingenuity, and entrepreneurial energy can be found in every community in the country. Policymakers should focus on empowering those forces to rekindle the grassroots economic growth that made this country the world’s leading economy in the first place.”
