Flight of the white middle class creates a split between have-a-lots and have-nots in New Jersey

Steve Chambers:

New Jersey remains the nation's wealthiest state, but its population is increasingly divided along lines of race and class as lower- and middle-income whites leave in growing numbers.

The findings come from a voluminous array of U.S. Census information released yesterday. The most comprehensive sampling in five years documents trends in income, immigration, commuting and race.

The statistics show that between 2000 and 2005, income levels of Asians and whites in New Jersey jumped 18.7 percent and 15 percent, respectively, boosting the state's median household income to $61,672. At the same time, the incomes of black and Hispanic residents lagged behind at less than half that rate, far behind the inflation rate of 17 percent.

White flight … to Brooklyn

More are getting less in county