A new study showed that New Mexico has the highest income inequality in the country and showed the gap between the rich and the poor is continuing to grow.

According to a study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute, the richest five percent of households in New Mexico had average income almost 17 times higher than the bottom 20 percent of people from 2008-2010.

The average income for the poorest 20 percent of households is just more than $16,000, while the average income for the richest 5 percent is more than $270,000.

The study said a big problem is that high-paying jobs continue to grow in wages but wages for middle and low-income jobs often remain stagnant, leaving a problem with wage disparities.

"I don't think there's enough high-paying jobs but I don't think we have the industry to offer the pay," Las Crucen Cheri Frietze said. "I think unless you work for the state or the city, the jobs aren't here."

Don Marshall is originally from Montana but has lived in Alamogordo for the last four years. He told KFOX14 he believes education plays a big role in the problem, too.

"The difference between rich and poor normally is education and willingness to work," Marshall said.

The study offered some solutions for correcting the problem. It said raising the minimum wage would help shrink the gap along with strengthening the unemployment insurance system.

"We need to have the jobs and the market for the people to want to go into and we've got to have children who want to make that next leap," Frietze said.

The states following New Mexico on the list included Arizona, California and Georgia.