The three states with the highest income inequality - California, Arizona and New Mexico - all share a border with Mexico

Other high-income-inequality states such as New York, Georgia and Illinois all have huge illegal immigrant populations. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, every one of the top five unequal states also is among the top 10 states with high illegal immigrant populations. Take Georgia, where, according to the Department of Homeland Security, the illegal immigrant population doubled between 2000 and 2011. As a result, Georgia now has the eighth-highest per capita illegal immigrant population in the country.