CALIFORNIA BUSINESS MINUTE
Poorest Counties in the Nation
03-30-11
Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.
According to the latest data set from the U.S. Census Bureau, 14.3% of the country, or
42.9 million Americans, lived below the poverty line in 2009, an increase of 3.5 million
from the year before. During the last two years, the federal poverty level has remained
constant. In 2009, the poverty line for a family of four was $22,050.
Poverty rates across the nation vary, with the lowest percentage being exhibited by Los
Alamos County in New Mexico, where only 3.1% of the population lives below the poverty
line. So, in what counties are residents most impoverished?
The website Mainstreet.com broke down the top 10 poorest counties in the U.S. by the
percentage of those living below the poverty rate, as established in the 2009 census.
POOREST COUNTIES BY POVERTY LEVEL
County % Living Below Poverty Level MHI
1. Ziebach, SD 62% $25,084
2. Crowley, CO 53% $29,104
3. Shannon, SD 51.6% $25,048
4. Holmes, MS 48.4% $21,617
5. Issaquena, MS 45.5% $24,850
6. Todd, SD 45.3% $24,742
7. Marton, KY 45% $25,825
8. Humphreys, MS 44.3% $21,926
9. East Carroll, LA 44.3% $23,186
10. Buffalo, SD 43.6% $18,860
However, in yet another measurement, provided by the US Census Bureau’s recently released
American Community Survey, Kentucky is home to 4 of the top ten poorest counties. This is
far different from the Mainstreet.com ranking where Marton County was the only county
from Kentucky and not even on the Census ranking.
POOREST COUNTIES, US CENSUS BUREAU
1st Owsby County, KY; 2nd Lee County, KY; 3rd Breathitt County, KY; 4th
Brooks County, TX; 5th Magoffin County, KY; 6th Issaquena County,MS;
7th Leflore County, MS; 8th Zapata County, TX; 9th Chicot County, AR;
10th Allendale County, SC.
So while there are no California counties on either list, it appears that Kentucky
and Mississippi are the two states that have the poorest counties.
I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.
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