Income

            It is natural for one with limited knowledge of AIDS to only associate the disease with poor areas; from the information provided in "First Impressions," however, one can see that wealthy areas, such as the prosperous county of Somerset, also suffer from AIDS.  Even though AIDS does exist in wealthy towns, it is reasonable to expect a relationship between the AIDS rate of each subdivision and its affluence.  By performing calculations one can see there is a strong negative correlation between median income and AIDS rate (Chart 3), verifying that wealth does relate to AIDS. It is also evident from the map that the towns in Somerset County have both higher median incomes and lower AIDS rates than those in Union and Middlesex County.

Since AIDS is so prevalent in the African American community, one would expect the median income of the African American population to correlate with the AIDS rate; however, the correlation is only -.505 (Chart 4).  Since the African American population in Plainfield has the highest AIDS rate, there is reason to assume they will have the lowest income. 

The graph above shows this is not true. Perhaps the reason the correlation was not as strong as expected and Plainfield did not have the lowest income, is because the money earned is being spent on drugs; increased drug use increases one's chance of contracting AIDS, due to the use of needles. High income is generally associated with a better quality of education; therefore, one would predict that AIDS will connect to the quality and level of one’s education.

INTRO   RACE    INCOME    EDUCATION    HOUSEHOLD

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