Poverty Continues to Rise in the Keystone State

From the PA State Data Center Research Brief

New State and Local Poverty Data Released 
The Census Bureau released American Community Survey (ACS) data for 2011, with reports (links below) showing state and metropolitan area poverty and income, as well as a separate report showing health insurance coverage for 19 to 25 year olds - an age group that gained health care coverage through the new health care law. 

NEW: Poverty by state and Congressional District - on an interactive map, thanks to the Half in Ten Campaign.  (See below.)
Also, a correction was made to the poverty table below (total poverty, not child or family poverty).  If you've been using this data, please check again to make sure nothing has changed that you've used.  We are sorry for the error.

Poverty:  [This] report finds more than 48 million Americans poor in 2011, up 2.2 million from the previous year, or 15.9 percent of all Americans. 

The 5 states with the highest poverty rate:  Mississippi, 22.6%; New Mexico, 21.5%; Louisiana, 20.4%; Arkansas, 19.5%; and Georgia, 19.1%.
The 5 states with the lowest poverty rate:  New Hampshire, 8.8%; Maryland, 10.1%; New Jersey, 10.4%; Alaska, 10.5%; and Connecticut, 10.9%.

Child Poverty:  In 12 states plus the District of Columbia, more than one-quarter of children were poor.
 
The 5 states with the highest child poverty rates:  Mississippi, 31.5%; New Mexico, 30.6%; District of Columbia, 30.2%; Louisiana, 28.6%; and Arkansas, 27.7 %.
The 5 states with the lowest child poverty rates:  New Hampshire, 11.7%; Maryland, 13.2%; North Dakota, 14.1%; Vermont, 14.2%, and Alaska, 14.3%.
In Puerto Rico, 57.3% of children were poor.

You can find 50-state rankings (or within-state rankings) this way:
Click here: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml
then click on "topics" on left
then select "product type" and choose "ranking table," and in the "narrow your search" box, type "poverty."  Of course check out other comparison tables and other topics.

Health Insurance for Young Adults:  The new data clearly show more people insured in the age group (19-25 year olds) now allowed to be covered in their parents' health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act.  In contrast, the proportion without health coverage grew among 26-29 year olds, who cannot be part of their parents' plans. In 2008, 69.5 percent of 19-25 year olds had some form of health insurance; that rose to 71.8 percent in 2011.  Among 26-29 year olds, the proportion with insurance declined from 72.3 percent to 70.3 percent over the same period.  Looking specifically at private insurance, the pattern is the same:  Among 19-25 year olds, 60.4 percent had private insurance in 2008, rising to 60.8 percent in 2011.  For 26-29 year olds, private coverage went down, from 62.8 percent to 58.7 percent.

Here are links to state tables compiled by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (thanks to them!!).  They show comparisons over time (2001, 2007, and 2011).  Comparing 2007 to 2011 shows the difference between the period just before the recession started and a few years after the recession's official end in 2009.

Poverty:   http://www.chn.org/pdf/2012/Poverty_ACS.pdf
Child Poverty:  http://www.chn.org/pdf/2012/ChildPoverty_ACS.pdf
Family Poverty: http://www.chn.org/pdf/2012/FamilyPoverty_ACS.pdf
Median Income:  http://www.chn.org/pdf/2012/MedianIncome_ACS.pdf
Interactive map with state poverty statistics:  http://halfinten.org/issues/articles/interactive-map-2011-poverty-data-by-state/
Interactive map with congressional district poverty statistics:  http://halfinten.org/issues/articles/interactive-map-2011-poverty-data-by-congressional-district/

Here are links to today's American Community Survey reports by the Census Bureau: 

Poverty:  2010 and 2011 (American Community Survey):  http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acsbr11-01.pdf

Household Income for States:  2010 and 2011 (American Community Survey):  http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acsbr11-02.pdf

Health Insurance Coverage of Young Adults Aged 19 to 25:  2008, 2009, and 2011 (American Community Survey):  http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acsbr11-11.pdf

Data Note:  Attentive followers of the poverty data will note differences in the national estimates for this survey and last week's Census Bureau release.  For example, last week's release showed 15.0 percent of people in poverty nationwide for 2011; this survey shows 15.9 percent. The difference is largely about timing. Please remember (and you might remind reporters) that the ACS survey collects its responses on a rolling basis. This makes its estimates more akin to a two-year average than a one-year, point-in-time estimate. Depending on when they were surveyed, people responding to the 2011 survey could have provided information that pertained to 2010 or to both 2010 and 2011. Note that these timing issues are not relevant for the health insurance data in ACS since people are asked about their current insurance status.  (Thanks to expert friends at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities for clarifying these differences.)