Gini Index

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The Gini index, developed more than a century ago, is the most common measure of income inequality among households, with zero representing total income equality and 1 representing total inequality. TN ranked 38th in 2018 and dropped to 43rd in 2019.

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More than one in eight Americans suffered from food insecurity – children and adults alike who don’t get adequate nutrition, according to the organization Feeding America, in 2015. More than half of the top-10 rated states for economic opportunity in America also had among the lowest rates of food insecurity. North Dakota ranked No. 1, with a rate of 7.7 percent, and New Hampshire No. 2, with a rate of 9.7 percent. Mississippi ranked lowest, with 21.5 percent of households experiencing food insecurity. Regionally, New England on average had the lowest rate – 11.3 percent – and the Southwest the highest – 15.8 percent. TN ranked 37th in 2018 and currently ranks 30th in 2019. 

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In 2016, the Census Bureau reported, there were 40.6 million people living in poverty in the United States– about 12.7 percent of the population. In the metrics evaluating poverty in the rankings for opportunity, the state with the lowest percentage of households living beneath the poverty line in 2016 was New Hampshire: 7.3 percent. Another state highly ranked for its opportunity for citizens, Maryland, ranked third, with a rate of 9.7 percent. The states with the highest percentages of people living in poverty were Mississippi – 20.8 percent – and Louisiana – 20.2 percent. Regionally, New England states had the lowest rates – 10.4 percent on average – and Southeastern states the highest rates – 16 percent on average. TN ranked 40th in 2018 and 41st in 2019.