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Friday, September 23, 2011

Rural/urban poverty gap smallest since 1950's but overall poverty report looks bleak

Rural poverty rates increased less than 0.1 percent from 2009 to 2010, while the urban poverty rate rose one percent, a new report from the Economic Research Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows. (ERS graphic) As a result, the gap between rural and urban poverty rates is the smallest it has been since the 1950"s, the Daily Yonder reports. (Read more)While the percentage of people living in poverty — household income below $22,350 for a family of four — has remained relatively constant in rural America, the U.S. Census Bureau report shows a 20 percent increase poverty from 2007 to 2010 in 20 states. The report also shows median household income fell more than 7 percent in 16 states, Carla Uriona, Mary Mahling, Evan Potler and Pamela Prah of Stateline report. To see whether your state was among those with a rise in poverty or drop in median income, see the Stateline infographic below. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

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