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For Immediate Release: Thursday, November 30, 2017

U.S. Census Bureau Releases Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates for Counties

Press Release Number CB17-TPS.83

NOV. 30, 2017 – In 2016, the median household income for all counties ranged between $22,045 and $134,609, with a median county-level value of $47,589, according to the new Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Between 2007 (the year before the most recent recession) and 2016, 70 counties had a statistically significant increase in median household income that was 20 percent or more. Of these counties, 48 were in Nebraska, North Dakota and Texas. Within North Dakota alone, 79.2 percent of counties had a statistically significant increase in median household income compared to pre-recession levels. To learn more about how Middle America’s income is changing, see the Uncovering Trends in Income and Poverty Using Model-Based Estimates blog.

Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) provide the only up-to-date, single-year income and poverty statistics for all 3,141 counties and 13,245 school districts nationally. The tables provide statistics on the number of people in poverty, the number of children younger than age 5 in poverty (for states only), the number of children ages 5 to 17 in families in poverty, the number of children younger than age 18 in poverty, and median household income. At the school district level, estimates are available for the total population, the number of children ages 5 to 17, and the number of children ages 5 to 17 in families in poverty.

Income highlights:

  • Based on estimates for all counties, 55.4 percent of counties had an increase in median household income, but only 7.4 of counties percent had a statistically significant increase between 2015 and 2016.
  • Between 2007 and 2016, 46.9 percent of counties had an increase in median household income, but only 9.9 percent of counties had a statistically significant increase.

Along with income estimates, county-level poverty rates ranging between 3.4 to 48.6 percent with a median poverty rate of 14.9 percent for all age groups. The Northeast and Midwest counties led the nation with the lowest poverty rates where over 72 percent of the counties in each region have poverty rates below the median.

Poverty highlights:

  • In 2016, county-level poverty rates for school-age children (ages 5 to 17) ranged from 2.5 to 71.6 percent.
  • Between 2015 and 2016, 58.7 percent of counties had a decrease in the poverty rate for all ages, but only 7.1 percent of counties had a statistically significant decrease.
  • Between 2007 and 2016, 32.3 percent of counties had a decrease in the poverty rate, but only 2.1 percent of counties had a statistically significant decrease.
  • For all school districts, the median estimated poverty rate for school-age children was 15.8 percent in 2016.

Statistics from the SAIPE program are an input to the allocation formula for Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as currently amended. Title I distributes funding to school districts based on the number and percentage of low-income children. The U.S. Department of Education expects to use the 2016 estimates to calculate fiscal year 2018 allocations for Title I and several other Department of Education programs for use by states and school districts primarily in the 2018-2019 school year.

No news release associated with this report. Tip Sheet only.

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Page Last Revised - December 16, 2021
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