The Money Mountains of Los Angeles

Nick Underwood has visualized the average median household income in each Los Angeles neighborhood using the analogy of elevation. On his The Topography of Wealth in L.A. map city each neighborhood is displaced 'vertically based on median annual household income'. 

The map uses census data to show the average household income in each Los Angeles neighborhood as a 3D tower. Sea level on the map is set at the median US income of $59,000 per year. The map reveals that a number of L.A. neighborhoods, particularly in Beverley Hills and East Pasadena, soar above the median US income. However many of these wealthy neighborhoods ' lie immediately adjacent to others with income well below the poverty line.'

According to Nick the map actually underestimates the huge disparities in income between many neighborhoods in Los Angeles. The U.S. census caps household income at $250,000+ so it is probable that some L.A. neighborhood towers should actually be a lot taller.

Using the analogy of elevation to visualize economic and demographic data can be an effective way to present a dataset geographically. For example The Pudding's Human Terrain interactive map shows the world's population density using 3D population towers. On this map the taller a block then the larger the population. 

As you might expect the Human Terrain map shows that some of the most densely populated neighborhoods in LA are in Central Los Angeles, such as Pico-Union and Angeling Heights. These areas seem to be among the 'valleys' of the Topography of Wealth map, suggesting that the most densely populated areas of Los Angeles are also among some of the poorest neighborhoods in the city.