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"The bottom 20 percent of households lost over three times as much in real earnings as did households at the top," says Michael Cassidy, President of The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, a Virginia-based independent fiscal and economic policy research organization. "As a result, income inequality in Northern Virginia has grown substantially since the start of the recession. In 2007, the top 10 percent of Northern Virginia households brought in 7.61 times the income of the bottom 10 percent. In 2010, they brought in 8.5 times as much." The article details the increasing difference between the incomes of Virginia's highest and lowest classes. The annual income of the highest 10 percent has grown almost 100% in three years, an unhealthy and irregular amount compared to the rest of the country.

"The stark contrast in household earnings illuminates a disturbing fact: Richmond has one the highest levels of income inequality in the United States, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau." According to this article, Richmond has one of the highest levels of income inequality with bottom quintile of the city's households making averagely $7,000, and the top quintile averagely making $170,000. One in four of Richmond residents lives on or below the poverty line, and there are many theories for the growth of income inequality. Among these are elimination of jobs due to technological advances and discrimination against minorities and women. 

"Windsor Farms is a historic neighborhood in Richmond's West End just north of the James River. Its streets are lined with colonial-style homes meant to mimic an English village. Seven and a half miles away is the Gilpin neighborhood in Richmond's Northside, next to Interstates 64 and 95. Its streets are lined with one of the largest public housing projects on the East Coast, Gilpin Court.  Windsor Farms Gilpin Court Though it's just a 15-minute drive between Windsor Farms and Gilpin, the two neighborhoods are worlds apart in terms of socioeconomics. The average annual household income for residents in Windsor Farms is about $185,000; in Gilpin, the figure is less than $10,000."

"Middle-class and low-income individuals who make up most of the population in our state aren't earning enough to buy the goods and services that the economy is capable of producing. The result is a shrinking middle class. Middle-class families, defined as households earning 50 percent below and above the median income, are earning less than middle-class families did in 1989. The decline in high-paying jobs is pushing more families into the lower class, thus widening the gap between rich and poor." This article explores the level of income inequality present in Richmond, the city with the highest income inequality in Virginia and one of the highest in the United States. One in four individuals live on or below the poverty line. Segregation, racism associated with banking, and highway construction limited the poverty level to specific areas of the city. There is no transportation provided beyond city lines, forcing the average-middle class to take the incentive to live in the country as opposed to the city. This forces the lower class to live within the city. The article discusses how stable well-paying jobs have disappeared and not been replaced, causing the American middle class to shrink. The lack of high paying jobs is currently pushing more families into the lower class, widening the gap between rich and poor.