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"Virginians
incomes are rising, but the income gap between the rich and poor continues
to stretch wider - especially in Albemarle County - according to a new study
from the University of Virginia's Weldon
Cooper Center for Public Service"
"The study, conducted by economists John L. Knapp and Stephen
C. Kulp, analyzed the adjusted gross income (AGI) reported on Virginia tax
returns for 1997, the most recent figures available. This is the 25th year
that the AGI data has been published"
"The state median AGI for married couples was $48,087, representing
a 5.7 percent gain over 1996 and the third year real incomes rose in Virginia,
according to the study. Even after allowance for the 2.3 percent gain in
prices, the real increase was 3.4 percent, the authors wrote"
"The yawning gap in the incomes of the rich and poor, the study
said, may result from: a growing number of single-family households; growing
disparities in education; and generally low wages in the service sector"
"The income inequality in Albemarle County increased most dramatically
in 1997 when compared to the other 135 localities mentioned, while Goochland
County showed the highest income inequality, according to the study"
"Knapp said that it is impossible to determine precisely why
Albemarle's income inequality index rose the most from looking at the tax
reports. He indicated, however, that realized capital gains, or successful
stock investments, most likely accounted for this increase"
"Jane Dittmar, president of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional
Chamber of Commerce, acknowledged that the large number of low-paying jobs
being created in the service sector - even though the wages are increasing
- could also help explain the depth of the splitting chasm between the rich
and poor in the area"
"Hannah Twaddell, associate director of the Thomas Jefferson
Regional Planning District Commission, pointed out that UVa., including
its hospital, employs over 10,000 people. The next biggest employer in the
area, she said, employs about one-tenth of this number"
"Most of these positions have low upward mobility ceilings,
and, as Twaddell noted, state institutions usually pay less than private-sector
employers"
"The locality with the highest household median income, $75,982,
was Fairfax County, and the lowest, Lee County at $25,058"
"The City of Charlottesville ranked 57th out of 135 Virginia
localities with a median income of $40,812, and Albemarle County was ranked
17th at $55,862"
"Dittmar said that the Charlottesville area suffers from depressed
wages and salaries. And living expenses aren't necessarily cheap, she added"
"Despite Charlottesville's average income median, the Charlottesville-Albemarle
area enjoys a nearly non-existent unemployment rate, 1.3 percent; starkly
contrasting the state's overall rate of 2.3 percent and the national unemployment
rate of 4.1 percent"
"'We clearly have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the
country, and we have an economy like most of the country that is doing extremely
well,' said Dittmar"
"But, as Robert DeMauri explained, the degree of underemployment
in the area compensates for this low unemployment"
"DeMauri, the executive director of the Thomas Jefferson Partnership
for Economic Development, defined underemployment as having talent or education
exceeding one's job duties. The expectation, he explained, is that people
are looking for upward mobility and better jobs"
"The area has a degree of underemployment, because the area
is geared toward service businesses and tourist agencies, which offer a
dearth of opportunities for high wages or middle-management opportunities,
he said" (Reed Williams, The Observer, January 12, 2000).
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