RICH STATE, POOR STATE:
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE PER CAPITA INCOME OF A COUNTRY'S RICHEST STATE THAT THE POOREST STATE EARNS
While the difference between the richest state in the U.S. (Connecticut) and the poorest state (Mississippi) may seem large, the per capita income of Mississippi is still about 54% of that of Connecticut (partly due to minimum wage laws). However, the differences are much greater in most other countries, especially developing countries. In Indonesia, the poorest province, East Nusa Tenggara, which contains West Timor, has a per capita income of just 3% (yes, that's THREE percent) of that of Jakarta, its capital.

Overall, developed countries have a smaller difference between rich and poor states (or provinces/cantons/oblasts/etc.). However, having fewer states in a country will statistically help (since the rich and poor areas are more likely to be in the same state).

And...if you're curious where some of these richest and poorest states are, go here.

COUNTRY New Zealand Sweden Greece Australia Netherlands Canada United States Poland Spain Italy Switzerland Germany Japan France U.K. South Africa India Mexico Philippines Brazil Turkey China Russia Tanzania Guatemala Indonesia

POOREST STATE'S PER CAP. INCOME DIVIDED BY RICHEST STATE'S (%) 73.2* 65.7 61.7 60.2** 54.8 54.1 49.3*** 46.8 46.4 44.6 39.0 37.2 35.6 33.1**** 27.0 21.4 18.7 16.3 13.4 11.8 9.0 8.3 7.1 6.4 3.5 3.1

RICHEST STATE Auckland Stockholm Sterea Ellada Aust. Cap. Terr. Utrecht Northwest Terr. D.C. Mazowieckie Madrid Trentino- Alto Adige Zug Hamburg Tokyo Ile de France Inner London Gauteng Goa Distrito Federal Nat. Capital Reg. Distrito Federal Kocaeli Shanghai Tyumen Oblast Arusha Guatemala City Jakarta

POOREST STATE Otago Gotland Ipeiros Tasmania Flevoland Prince Edward Is. Mississippi Lubelskie Extremadura Calabria Jura Sachsen-Anhalt Nara Reunion Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Limpopo Bihar Oaxaca Sulu Piauí Mus Guizhou Tyva Republic Lindi Quiché E. Nusa Tenggara

* Incomes from working people (versus all people) used.
** These countries have fewer than 10 states, provinces (etc.).
*** The District of Columbia was tabulated as if it were a state. It has a higher per capita income than any U.S. state. Without D.C., this figure would be 53.9 percent.
**** Includes French overseas departments. If only mainland departments were used, this figure would be 50.5 percent.

Per capita incomes were derived from either state GDPs or using the Atlas method (depending on which source was available for a country).

Sources: Numerous, mostly between 1996 and 2003.


And where are some of these places?

Otago, New Zealand: South part of the South Island
Gotland, Sweden: An island in the Baltic Sea
Sterea Ellada, Greece: A central mainland region (not a prefecture) containing Athens
Ipeiros, Greece: Northwest mainland region
Mazowieckie, Poland: Province containing Warsaw
Lubelskie, Poland: Along eastern border (near Belarus and Ukraine)
Extremadura, Spain: Along western border with Portugal
Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy: Along northeastern border with Austria
Calabria, Italy: Southern tip of the mainland
Zug, Switzerland: Tiny German-speaking canton south of Zurich
Jura, Switzerland: French-speaking canton along the northwestern French border
Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany: Western part of former East Germany
Nara, Japan: Southern part of Honshu (the big island), east of Osaka
Ile de France, France: Includes Paris
Reunion, France: West part of the Indian Ocean
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, UK: Extreme southwest part of England and coastal islands
Gauteng, South Africa: State with Johannesburg and Pretoria
Limpopo, South Africa: Along northeastern border with Zimbabwe
Goa, India: Southwestern coast
Bihar, India: Northeastern interior, shares border with Nepal
Oaxaca, Mexico: South coast and mountains
Sulu, Philippines: Islands in the extreme south
Piauí, Brazil: East part of the Amazon
Kocaeli, Turkey: Northwestern province, east of Istanbul
Mus, Turkey: Interior east
Guizhou, China: Interior south
Tyumen Oblast, Russia: Southwest part of Siberia
Tyva Republic, Russia: Along south border of Siberia with Mongolia
Arusha, Tanzania: Along north border with Kenya, containing Mt. Kilimanjaro
Lindi, Tanzania: Along southeast coast
Quiché, Guatemala: Northwest of Guatemala City (shares small part of Mexican border)
East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia: Far southern islands, including west part of Timor


Return to the bonus lists, to the chapters of the book or choose from...

Any questions about the website or specifically for Brandt? Please send them here.



Copyright ©2005 Brandt Maxwell.