Factories and public-housing projects
A recent Business Insider ranking called the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metro area in Fairfield County, Connecticut, the most unequal place in America, and it also happens to be the wealthiest area in the country.
In that area, the ultra-rich enclave of Greenwich lies just 20 miles up the road from the crime-ridden, post-industrial city of Bridgeport. Whereas Greenwich is dotted with mansions and country clubs, deserted factories and public-housing projects line the streets of Bridgeport.
If Fairfield County were a country, it would be the 14th-most unequal spot on the planet, Bloomberg reported in 2011. Just 5% of Fairfield County residents share almost 30% of the region's income, while the bottom 20% share just 2.3%, according to the Business Insider ranking.
As of 2012, Bridgeport's per capita income was $19,743, with 23% of residents living below the poverty line, according to the US Census Bureau. By contrast, the per capita income for Greenwich in 2012 was $83,270 — more than twice that of Fairfield County ($37,807), and 7.1% of residents live below the poverty line. The average Greenwich property sells for $948,500, whereas the average home in Bridgeport is worth $163,400.