The 2007 - 2009 Boston Indicators Report was released at the John LaWare Leadership Forum on December 16, 2009. The report finds that the United States exhibits far greater levels of income inequality today than any other rich, industrialized nation and the city of Boston posts higher levels of such disparities than the country as a whole. Suffolk County, even more sharply divided than Boston, exhibits a pattern of economic polarization between rich and poor similar to the American Deep South.

The report, titled A Great Reckoning: Healing a Growing Divide, is drawn from the Boston Indicators Project, a collaboration between the Boston Foundation and Greater Boston’s civic community. Co-sponsored by the City of Boston and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, it brings together a wealth of information generated by the region’s public agencies, civic institutions, think tanks and community-based organizations. Through multiple convenings that include area stakeholders, the Indicators project frames its findings to shape a civic agenda. The content of the report and the data that shapes it is available on an ongoing basis through a dedicated website, as well as with a biennial report.

The 2007 - 2009
Boston Indicators Report

Visit the Boston
Indicators Project website.

Download a PDF version
of the Summary Report.