Survey: Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk area has worst income growth in nation

The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metro area experienced the largest average wage decline of any metro area surveyed in the nation by personal finance website GoBankingRates.

Utilizing data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the site found that from 2010 to 2015 the area saw income decline by 5.3 percent to $81,225, making it the worst-performing metro area of 200 surveyed. The report noted that in 2014, Business Insider called the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk area “the most unequal place in America.”

Across the entire state of Connecticut, the top 1 percent of earners absorbed 85.1 percent of all income growth, the site said.

Changes in income were calculated based on real income per capita in 2009 dollars.

Topping the list was the Tulsa, Oklahoma area, with per capita income up 35.7 percent over the five-year period through 2015, with per-capita personal income at $36,453 in 2015. That growth was driven by new commercial development in downtown Tulsa, the report said.