在美国人收入会随教育而异

　　The unstated implication of the state-by-state report was that the states where income disparities are lower are somehow " fairer" than the states with high disparities. But the truth is that among communities, states and regions, income and wealth will vary for many reasons, several of them unavoidable and laudable.

　　上述的各州分类分析报告没有明示但暗含的意思是那些收入差异小的州要比差异大的州更公平些。但事实却是在各社区、各州与各地区，收入与财富的获得是随很多因素变化的，其中有些因素还是不可避免并值得赞许的。

　　Consider, for example, that income varies with education. According to census data, high school dropouts in the work force earn an average of $26,207, while workers with a professional degree average $127,499. Census figures show that many of the states with the widest income gaps have greater diversity in education levels than states with smaller income gaps. Twenty-six percent of those over the age of 24 in New York--the state with the greatest income disparity--have at least a bachelor's degree, whereas in Indiana, which was among the seven states with the lowest income disparity, only 16 percent do. Should we be lamenting that so many New Yorkers went to college?

　　例如，收入会随教育而异。人口调查数据表明，在劳动力大军中，高中辍学者的平均收入是26207美元，而有专业本科学位的平均能挣127499美元。从统计数据可以看出，在多数的收入相差极其悬殊的州，其教育程度上的差异要比那些收入差距不大的州大得多。纽约是收入差距最大的州，其24岁以上的民众中有26%至少具有学士学位。而在收入差距最小的7个州之一--印地安那州，这个比例只有16%。难道我们还要因为有那么多纽约人受过大学教育而哀叹吗?

　　Another non-nefarious cause of increasing income disparity may be our ever-higher immigration rates. Immigrants tend to cluster in low-and high-income groups. Thus it is no surprise that in the seven most unequal states--New York, Arizona, New Mexico, Louisiana, California, Rhode Island and Texas--about 13 percent of the population is foreign-born(in California, it's 25 percent). Among the seven states with the smallest income disparities, the immigrant population is only 3.8 percent.

　　造成收入差距加大的另一个不可指责的原因或许是攀升的移民率。移民们趋于集中在低收入和高收入的两个群体中。因此，人们对下面这种情况就不会感到奇怪了。在收入最不平均的7个州--纽约、亚利桑那、新