Blacks' income gap among lowest in U.S.

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The gap between rich and poor blacks is smaller in Maryland than in almost any other state, according to the 2000 census.

The numbers reflect a relatively large black middle class, supported by good-paying, stable jobs in government, biotechnology and related industries, social scientists say. Their paychecks pave the way to more investment, more buying power and a better quality of life.

"The better off economically people are, the more stable their communities tend to be, so it tends to reduce all kinds of social problems if there's a large middle class of whatever color," said Patrick Feeney, a professor of sociology at Montgomery College in Rockville.

The method the Census Bureau and most economists use to calculate income disparity in a population is the "Gini coefficient," developed in the early 20th century by Italian demographer Corrado Gini. It gives a number between 0 and 1.

A Gini of 0 for Maryland would mean that all households in the state had the same income; a Gini of 1 would represent the greatest income disparity, with all income concentrated in a single household.

Black households in Maryland scored a Gini of .428, the lowest of any state with a black population of at least 3 percent, except Alaska. The Maryland Gini score for all households was .430, while the national Gini score was .462.

Alaska squeaked into the rankings with a black population of 3.4 percent. Maryland's population is 28 percent black, concentrated mainly in the Washington-Baltimore area.

Prince George's County is among the wealthiest majority-black counties in the country, with an estimated average median household income of $54,176 in 2000, compared with $41,990 for all households nationally and $52,740 in Maryland.

The black middle class in Prince George's is well established and flexing its economic muscle. The grand opening earlier this month of a new shopping center in Landover, the Boulevard at the Capital Centre, with a Borders bookstore and a Starbucks cafe, answered the demand for more upscale retailing in Prince George's.