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Old 02-02-2015, 03:21 PM
 
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Here is an interesting article that compares census tracts of Chicago, Detroit, and Toronto, the three major Great Lakes metropolises, and the average income of census tracts compared with national averages (Canada being a hair lower than the US)

Insight: Chicago, Detroit, Toronto — Three Peas in Three Different Pods | Martin Prosperity Institute

I have pasted the three maps and the chart, but you have to click on the link to read the text.

Summary chart:

http://martinprosperity.org/wp-conte...sight_Ex04.jpg

The three maps showing above national average and below national average for all three metro areas:


Detroit:

http://martinprosperity.org/wp-conte...come_500px.jpg

Chicago:

http://martinprosperity.org/wp-conte...come_500px.jpg

Toronto:

http://martinprosperity.org/wp-conte...come_500px.jpg

Thoughts?

Last edited by JMT; 02-02-2015 at 06:12 PM..
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Old 02-02-2015, 04:05 PM
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I'm puzzled how Toronto has the same average income as Detroit despite having a richer metro area.
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Old 02-02-2015, 05:11 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
I'm puzzled how Toronto has the same average income as Detroit despite having a richer metro area.
That might be a type/error
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Old 02-02-2015, 05:33 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
I'm puzzled how Toronto has the same average income as Detroit despite having a richer metro area.
Is it really a richer metro area? That would surprise me.

Come to think of it, the Chicago numbers look all wrong too. There's no way Chicago has nearly twice the median household income of Detroit and Toronto. The three cities should be pretty similar overall, and are not particularly high nor low for metro standards in the U.S./Canada, though I think Chicago would be highest.
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Old 02-02-2015, 05:50 PM
nei nei won $500 in our forum's Most Engaging Poster Contest - Thirteenth Edition (Jan-Feb 2015). 

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Location: Western Massachusetts
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NOLA101 View Post
Is it really a richer metro area? That would surprise me.
I was going by the chart. Though I would expected it be richer, I'd be surprised if the opposite were true. In any case, the city numbers have to be off; there's no way Toronto which isn't drastically poorer compared to its metro, is similar in income to the city of Detroit. Median household income is $70,365 for Toronto.

National Household Survey (NHS) Profile, 2011

Chicago is $57,604; Detroit $48,447

Brookings - Quality. Independence. Impact.

But you'd to do a currency conversion to do a fair comparison, but at current exchange rates Toronto would be richer. If you want to add in a cost of living adjustment that'd be a mess.

Quote:
Come to think of it, the Chicago numbers look all wrong too. There's no way Chicago has nearly twice the median household income of Detroit and Toronto. The three cities should be pretty similar overall, and are not particularly high nor low for metro standards in the U.S./Canada, though I think Chicago would be highest.
Those numbers aren't median; they're average, I'd assume mean.
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Old 02-02-2015, 05:51 PM
 
Location: Michigan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
I'm puzzled how Toronto has the same average income as Detroit despite having a richer metro area.
If 4.5% of the green areas of Detroit have average incomes above $70,000, then the overall average of the city skews upward. The data doesn't necessarily say how high above the average the green areas may be, and it's very easily possible that the green areas of Detroit have residents that make 6-figure salaries.

But therein is the inequality problem. 4.5% of the city population doesn't have enough aggregate income like that of Chicago or Toronto to support the city services that 95% of the population uses. The metro area data shows the inverse of this inequality where pretty each metro area has 70%+ above average income and very little below the average. It generally goes to show what happens when an area has little or too much poverty.
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Old 02-03-2015, 09:06 AM
 
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It's a little skewed as well since they do it based on square miles of land area that are above and below the national averages.

In Chicago's case, the larger chunk of green area from downtown up through the north lakefront and a bit to the west is around 23 square miles and contains about 550,000 people, or 23,800 per square mile. This is the core of Chicago's more wealthier population.

Likewise if you take many of those red areas, the poorest of the poor neighborhoods around Englewood or Garfield Park, North Lawndale, etc. you get another 23 square miles, but this time you only have around 175,000 people, or 7,500 per square mile.

Same colored regions on the map, but one has well over 550,000 people (and 600,000 employment in the downtown area), while the other has 175,000.

Generally in Chicago, the most wealthy neighborhoods have the highest density. Most of the worst areas and then the solid middle class areas to the northwest and the southwest have some of the lower densities.
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