By GLENN WOJCIAK

The Post staff writer

Residents of Medina County don't have to look far to find evidence of the income inequality which has been raising concern around the country.

The gap in income between the wealthiest and poorest households in Northeast Ohio is greatest in Medina County according to a new report by Cleveland's Center for Community Solutions.

In the 16-county area, researchers found that Medina County had the greatest income disparity - nearly a $162,000 difference in the average household income of people at the top and those at the bottom of the income ladder.

Households with the highest income in the county are averaging $179,958 a year, while those at the bottom averaged $17,969, according to Mark Salling, research director for the Center for Community Solutions.

Salling said the study used Census data and arranged households in order of earnings then divided the number of households into five equal groups. The gap between the average household earnings of the top and bottom quintiles was significant in all 16 Northeast Ohio counties studied, but greatest in Medina County.

Salling also reported that the income gap for households in the region has been growing in recent decades. The report examined household incomes from 2000 to 2009 and found those in the highest earning group saw their incomes rise 22 percent over that time while households in the other four groups experienced a decline in income. On average, the rich are getting richer, and nearly everyone else is getting poorer.

The study provides some hard facts to those who have raised concerns about income inequality around the country and that the contrast between the "haves" and "have nots" exists in Northeast Ohio.

"The numbers seen to reinforce the protests of the occupy movements," Salling said. "The incomes of those at the top are growing considerably faster than the rest of the country and we need to do something about it."

Specific recommendations on what can be done should be made in a follow-up report by the Center for Community Solutions, which Salling said should be ready in several months. It is expected to discuss programs that remove barriers to employment, provide career ladders, increase educational opportunity and promote the value of work.

The income inequality report is part of the Northeast Ohio Regional Indicators and Objectives project, an effort by Community Solutions to build a consensus among the various health and social services agencies in a 16-county area.

The report states that growing income inequality has high costs. Lower wealth and income is associated with a myriad of negative health and social conditions, the consequences of which are costly to society. In addition, income inequality threatens prosperity by distorting incentives and restricting opportunity.

"I know people should make different amounts and not everyone has the ability to be a top earner," Salling said.

That admission does not diminish his concern over the growing gap in household incomes, however, and the fact that so many are seeing declines in earnings.

The decline in incomes is obvious to Mead Wilkins, director of Medina County Jobs and Family Services.

"Just pay a visit to the Human Services Building," he said. "There are so many people coming to us for help it's hard to get in the door."

Wilkins points to food stamps as the best indicator of declines in household income. The SNAP program (food stamps) administered by Jobs and Family Services saw the value of benefits it distributes grow from $7.5 million in 2008 to $15.7 million in 2010.

Seth Kujat, executive director of United Way of Medina County, said last year his agency helped more than 17,500 people in Medina County with direct services.

"We've seen a large increase in the number of families in financial crisis," he added.

The number of calls to United Way's Medina County 2-1-1/First Call for help, a 24-hour emergency referral service, were up 10 percent this year to 4,200 and that was with three weeks left in the year.

Although United Way provides a variety of services, Kujat said most of the people the agency helps are in a financial crisis and get help meeting their basic needs for food, clothing and shelter.