Gap Between Richest, Poorest U.S. Cities Grew Wider in 1987
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The gap between the nation's richest and poorest cities widened in 1987 as the posh Connecticut suburbs of New York stayed atop the per capita personal income list while Texas towns along the Mexican border remained last, the government reported yesterday.</br></br>In a report on 1987 personal income in the nation's 318 metropolitan regions, first place belonged to the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk-Danbury area of Connecticut, with per capita income of $26,316, the Commerce Department said.</br></br>Bringing up the rear was the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area of Texas, with per capita income of $7,001.</br></br>The first and last areas were the same as in 1986, but the gap between them grew as the 9.1% rate of per capita income growth in the Bridgeport area more than doubled the 4.2% pace in the McAllen region. The per capita income gap between the two regions was $19,315 in 1987, up from $17,412 a year earlier.</br></br>For the nation as a whole, per capita income rose 6% in 1987 to $15,484, according to the report by the department's Bureau of Economic Analysis.