American University Radio, February 4, 2020: D.C. Has More High-Income Residents Than Ever Before, Audit Suggests
It’s getting harder to be considered wealthy in the District of Columbia. In 2019, the percentage of D.C. residents reporting at least $100,001 in personal income hit an all-time high.
As the percentage of high-income residents has grown in D.C., the share of lower-income residents has shrunk. In 2010, tax filers who reported incomes of $50,000 and lower accounted for almost 66% of all filers in the city. In 2019, they made up less than half of the same group.
But while the revenue bump is good news for D.C.’s coffers, the influx of high earners is making it harder for lower-earning families to find homes, according to the D.C. Policy Center.
The District was named the country’s most gentrified city in a 2019 report from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.
