The racial income gap in Monroe County is startling and among worst in nation

The economic divide between Monroe County residents who are white and those of color is among the worst in the nation — and it's affecting even prosperous citizens, according to a report released this month.

The report also said it's vital that regions with such gaps close them to improve the area's overall economy.

The startling finding ranks Monroe County fifth worst in the nation in the median household income gap between white residents and residents of color, according to the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program.

Rochester and Monroe County officials say the report confirms previously held understandings and will help propel them to redouble efforts to improve the situation. But the gap wasn't created overnight, and it isn't a problem that government alone can solve.

Monroe County was also not alone in having a gap. There is a clear pattern that is most pronounced in older industrial cities in the Northeast and Midwest that had prospered in the 20th century, the group said.

In Monroe County, white residents made more than twice as much as minorities in 2016, the group said. White households earned a median income of $62,464 in 2016; non-white households earned $30,893.

The disparity is indicative of the poverty that has plagued upstate New York cities.

The Brookings report listed Onondaga County seventh worst in the country in the racial income disparity. The other New York county to make the list at number 18 was Kings County, which is the borough of Brooklyn. Brookings is a public policy group based in Washington D.C.

Number one on the list was Essex County, N.J., which is home to the city of the Newark.

The report noted that while older industrial cities are starting to grow again, the racial income gap can hold down a region's prosperity.

"Low incomes overall in a city equate to less money available for schools, transportation, parks, public safety, and economic development," it said.

"They also make a city less attractive for private investments that create jobs and amenities. In short, a lack of wider economic prosperity in a city has negative consequences even for its economically better-off groups."

In 2015, Rochester had more people living at less than half the federal poverty level than any other similarly sized city in the country, a local report showed.

In that year, that equated to a family of four earning less than $11,925 a year.

The numbers prompted the state to team with local leaders on a major anti-poverty initiative, and there have been some improvements.

In U.S. Census Bureau data last year, the poverty rate fell slightly, but the childhood poverty rate in the city was still 50.5 percent at the end of 2016.

Similar issues locally

In a report last August, the city of Rochester found similar issues with the wage gaps. It found 33 percent of part-time and seasonal workers in the city live in poverty, and 62 percent don’t make self-sufficient wages.

“This data in this report confirms what we’ve known for a long time — that there is a lack of equality in our workforce,” Mayor Lovely Warren said when the report was released.

"Everyone should have equal access to more jobs, safer and more vibrant neighborhoods and better educational opportunities.”

Data not surprising

Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative (RMAPI) director Leonard Brock said the Brookings report was not a surprise, given the segregation in the Rochester area and the concentration of poverty among people of color in the city and the overall low number of people of color in mid- or senior-level management.

"This reinforces the need for RMAPI and it reinforces the early points made by RMAPI," Brock said about its emphasis on institutional racism and inequality. "We could give people jobs all day, but that doesn’t necessarily mitigate some of the structural challenges that create ... inequality."

He said the overall community's failure to understand and deal with policies and practices that created the situation in the first place will likely keep RMAPI from reaching its goal of reducing the number of households in poverty by 50 percent by 2030.

Closing the gap

Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo said her administration has sought to close the income gap.

"I have always viewed this as one community — the community of Monroe — and I remain more committed than ever to securing a brighter future for all of our residents," she said in a statement.

She said the county has new workforce development and skills-based training programs, such as Pathways to Prosperity and LadderZup, "but it's clear more work remains to be done."

"Moving forward in 2018, Monroe County will continue to focus on growing more jobs, building better budgets, and supporting stronger families here so we can give each and every one of our people the very best opportunity to succeed," she continued.

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JSpector@Gannett.com

Joseph Spector is chief of USA TODAY Network's Albany Bureau.

Includes reporting by staff writer Patti Singer.