Researchers with the non-partisan Economic Policy Institute combed through IRS tax data. Their report, released July 19, found that the top one percent of Americans made 26.3 times more than the bottom 99 percent in 2015.
The average income of the nation's one percent is $1,316,985. The remainder have an average income of $50,107. Indiana's rate is less than the national average, with the average one percent-er earning 17.3 times more than the average of the bottom 99 percent. That puts Indiana thirty-ninth overall.
"If you look at the national data, Indiana doesn’t have the same inequality rate as the nation as a whole but it is trending closer to that compared to our Midwestern neighbors," said Andrew Bradley, a senior policy anaylyst with the Indiana Institute for Working Families.
He was not involved in the research, but he said the results did not shock him. "Unfortunately, I wish I could say it did surprise me," he said, "but really it’s a confirmation of some of the trends that we’ve seen throughout the state."
Bradley said Indiana’s tax system and low minimum wage help explain the state’s level of inequality, but he said some factors are out of lawmakers' control, like the changing structure of the economy.
Dubois County has the largest income gap in the state. The top one percent there earns 30.2 times what the rest make.