The overall housing market in the United States has recovered from the crisis that plunged the country into recession. But a new analysis by the Washington Post shows that the recovery has been deeply uneven along lines of race, income, and geography.

The data indicates that, in Chester County, the zip codes closest to the Main Line – Berwyn, Paoli, and Devon – experienced the highest increase in home value.

The Post’s study was conducted using data from Black Knight Financial Services spanning 2004 through 2015, and it shows how the nation’s housing recovery has increased inequality.

In Chester County:

• Homes in 19312 (Berwyn) are worth $112,923 more than in 2004, a 24 percent increase.
• Homes in 19301 (Paoli) are worth $78,394 more than in 2004, a 24 percent increase.
• Homes in 19333 (Devon) are worth $105,130 more than in 2004, a 20 percent increase.

Homes in Wayne (19087) – parts of which are in Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties – are worth $90,287 more than in 2004, a 21 percent increase.

On the other end of the county, as well as the spectrum, is Parkesburg (19365). Homes there are worth $652 less than in 2004.

According to the Post, the disparity helps explain why the economic recovery feels incomplete.

Nationally, while a typical single-family home has gained less than 14 percent in value since 2004, homes in the most expensive neighborhoods have gained 21 percent. Regional factors such as the Western energy boom explain some differences, but in many cities the housing market’s arc has deepened disparities between the rich and everyone else.

In good times, housing converts income into wealth. It turns a paycheck into the next generation’s inheritance. But in neighborhoods that haven’t weathered the past decade as well, homes have become a source of debt, a physical trap, and an obstacle to life’s other goals.

Click here to read more about home values in Chester County in The Washington Post.