Florida's Growth in Prosperity over Past Decade Is Unevenly Distributed.

May 24--The past decade brought prosperity to Florida and the Tampa Bay area, but the wealth wasn't distributed evenly.

"I think buying power has increased across the board, but somewhat more at the top than at the bottom," said economist Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute in Washington.

So although we have more people buying fashionable $300,000 homes, that crowd pales in comparison to the steady droves of Wal-Mart shoppers.

The income figures just released by the U.S. Census Bureau reveal:

-- A 9 percent jump statewide in median household incomes from 1989 to 1999, reaching $38,819. (The median falls in the middle of the …