A new interactive map based on Spain’s latest Household Income Distribution Atlas allows users to compare income levels between neighboring census sections. The dataset, compiled by the National Statistics Institute (INE), covers more than 33,600 sections, each representing roughly 1,500 people.

The national average net income per person increased by 6.1% in 2024, reaching €15,948. However, the average conceals substantial differences. Among municipalities with more than 2,000 residents, Pozuelo de Alarcón recorded the highest figure, at €32,612 per inhabitant. Iznalloz, in Granada, ranked last with €9,153—3.56 times less. El Palmar de Troya in Seville and Albuñol in Granada completed the three lowest positions, all in Andalusia.

The divide is also visible within Spain’s cities. Madrid has a clear contrast between higher-income northern areas and poorer southern districts. In Seville, the pattern follows an east-west split, while in Valencia and Zaragoza the central areas record higher incomes than their outskirts. According to an analysis by El País, 36% of Madrid’s census sections fall within the country’s highest income decile, compared with 7% in the lowest. Seville is more polarized: 19% of its sections are in the lowest decile and 16% in the highest.

Ceuta presents a similarly mixed picture. Some 30.4% of its census sections are among the 10% with the lowest incomes in Spain, while more than one in five also appears among the highest-income sections.

At neighborhood level, El País identified 702 areas with a median income per consumption unit above €37,500. Of these, 409 are located in Madrid and Barcelona, with another 166 in their surrounding areas.

Tax Agency data, organized by postal code, places La Moraleja in Alcobendas at the top, with an average gross income of €235,556 per taxpayer. Ciudalcampo and Fuente del Fresno, both in San Sebastián de los Reyes, follow with €145,046 and €139,369. Other areas exceeding €100,000 include Pedralbes-Sarrià and Muntaner in Barcelona, Aravaca and Salamanca-Goya in Madrid, central A Coruña and Pla del Remei in Valencia.

At the other end of the scale, Torreblanca in Seville recorded €11,560 per taxpayer, around twenty times less than La Moraleja. Nou Alacant in Alicante, Cortijos de Marín in Roquetas de Mar, Carrús-Plaza Barcelona in Elche, Sector Sur-Polígono del Guadalquivir in Córdoba and Ciudad Jardín in Alicante all remained below €20,000. Among the 896 lowest-income neighborhoods identified in the Atlas, Seville accounted for 59 sections, Alicante for 43 and Málaga for 28.

The figures have important limitations. The map reflects income reported for personal income tax purposes and therefore excludes undeclared income, the shadow economy and money managed through intermediary companies. The INE also limits the reported extremes, meaning household incomes above €167,076 and below €20,000 are not shown in detail. As a result, many sections share the same capped value.

The Atlas measures income rather than wealth. Between 2019 and 2024, income increased in almost every census section, but in one out of five areas the rise did not offset cumulative inflation of 18.8%. The data therefore do not necessarily indicate an improvement in purchasing power or capture accumulated assets such as inheritances and property.

Separate Tax Agency figures show that the number of taxpayers in Spain declaring more than €30 million in assets rose from 471 in 2013 to 1,023. In Andalusia, taxpayers reporting more than €3 million increased from 662 to 1,099 in one year. However, the regional figures require caution because the statistics do not distinguish between newly wealthy taxpayers, existing fortunes that appreciated and people who began declaring assets. The total number of Andalusian taxpayers with more than €2 million actually fell slightly, from 12,013 in 2023 to 11,985 in 2024.

At the same time, Andalusia continues to record high levels of economic vulnerability. Forty-three percent of children are considered at risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to the data cited in the analysis. UNICEF estimates that 586,900 Andalusian children, or 39.3%, are at risk of monetary poverty. Across the entire population, the risk of poverty or exclusion reaches 34.7%, affecting around three million people.

The available statistics do not directly measure hunger. One related indicator is the inability to afford meat, chicken or fish at least every two days. In 2023, this affected 13.3% of Andalusian households with children, the highest figure in Spain. Nationally, the proportion of children affected was 5.6% in 2025, equivalent to around 450,000 children. These figures are not directly comparable because they refer to different populations and years.

Andalusia’s poverty and social exclusion rate nevertheless fell by 0.9 percentage points compared with 2024, while the child rate declined by 1.5 points. The income map does not establish a direct relationship between the growth of large fortunes and poverty, but it does show how unevenly economic gains are distributed across Spain.

Sources: Xataka.