"The gap between people in the highest percentiles of earnings and wealth distributions and the rest of society has grown significantly during the past several decades, a fact that has led to considerable public discussion about the nature of opportunities available in the United States. Often overlooked in this debate, however, is the importance of economic mobility-the extent to which people can move up or down the income ladder. " This research report, published by the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank, shows data on the economic gaps in the US as well as ways to attempt to minimize these and the opportunity gaps through different styles of education and where education has the biggest gaps.

"While there are plentiful data examining the fortunes of the top 1 percent at the national level, this report uses the latest available data to examine how the top 1 percent in each state have fared over 1917-2012, with an emphasis on trends over 1928-2012 (data for additional percentiles spanning 1917-2012 are available at go.epi.org/topincomes1917to2012). In so doing, this analysis finds that all 50 states have experienced widening income inequality in recent decades." This article, including many data tables and types of statistical analysis, analyzes and describes the differences in history of income inequality in the US and the top 1% of incomes, and then later focuses on inequality in 2012 (the most recent year where state data is available) and the specifics of each state and the gaps between the top 1% and the average incomes of those in the bottom 99%.