AUSTIN -- The Austin metro is the most economically segregated large metro area in the United States, according to a new report outlining the geography of economic segregation in America.
The report from the Martin Prosperity Institute outlines economic segregation across the country through looking at income, educational and occupational segregation as well as social and demographic factors.
According to the report, the gap between rich and poor in America's cities is growing, associated with the size and density of the area and the wealth and affluence of its residents. Austin ranks high in both population and density.
Housing costs and how residents commute to work is also a factor, as well as political orientation. Race also is a factor -- the report found that Austin has a high percentage of white residents, which correlates with a high economic segregation index.
"Where cities and neighborhoods once mixed different kinds of people together, they are now becoming more homogenous and segregated by income, education, and occupation," the report concludes. "Separating across these three key dimensions of socio-economic class, this bigger sort threatens to undermine the essential role that cities have played as incubators of innovation, creativity, and economic progress."
Four of the 10 most-segregated large metros with populations of 1 million or more are in Texas: Austin, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas. Overall, Austin had the third-most overall economic segregation in the U.S. behind Tallahassee, Florida and Trenton, New Jersey.
Most of the higher-ranking smaller metros were college towns, the report states.
Go here to read the full report.
