Income distribution and inequalities in the southern United States are analyzed and compared with data for the rest of the country. evidence presented in this paper reveals that in the 1970s the Souths income distribution either converged or moved significantly closer to the income distribution of the rest of the country. The degree of convergence depends on the definition of the recipient unit and to a degree on the particular cost-of-living index used to deflate Southern and non-Southern incomes. The convergence is attributed in part to the labor unionization in the Northeast and the resulting relocation of companies to the South. Data are from the 1970 and 1980 censuses and concern total household income. (EXCERPT)