Valley poverty rate remains higher than the nation’s
YOUNGSTOWN
Poverty in the Mahoning Valley continues to rise despite a decline in the nation’s poverty rate for the first time since 2006.
The 2013 poverty rate in the U.S. dropped to 14.5 percent, down from 15 percent the previous year. The federal poverty threshold in 2013 was $11,490 for an individual and $23,550 for a family of four.
In Mahoning County, people living below the poverty line is at 17.8 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s new estimates for 2013. In Trumbull county, the poverty rate is at 19.2 percent, and in Columbiana, the poverty rate is at 18.3 percent.
Mahoning County had the lowest median household income in the Valley at $40,843. In Columbiana, the median household income is $42,100, and in Trumbull it’s at $41,798.
Additionally, the poverty rate is higher in some specific cities within each of the counties. In Youngstown, the poverty rate is at 40.2 percent and ranks sixth among the top 10 cities with the highest poverty rate. Cleveland ranks ninth.
The poverty rate is at 10.6 percent in Boardman, 31.4 percent in Warren, 18.2 percent in Struthers, 24 percent in Salem and 14.7 percent in Columbiana.
Bill D’Avignon, the director of Community Development Agency for Youngstown, said the numbers are not surprising.
D’Avignon said the low cost of living in the area is among other factors that attract the poverty to the area as well as the lack of economic growth.
“It takes a long time to diversify,” he said. “I think there is a lot of hope.”
Thomas Finnerty, associate director of Youngstown State University’s Center for Urban and Regional Studies, said the poverty rate relates to jobs and the workforce.
“The major problem of the city is a combination of a lack of jobs and a lack of employable people,” he said.
The Ohio poverty rate is at 16 percent and ranked 32nd in the highest poverty among states.
Here are the top 10 cities with the highest poverty rate:
1. Camden, N.J., 42.6
2. Flint, Mich., 41.8
3. Gary, Ind., 41.0
4. Detroit, Mich., 40.7
5. Bloomington, Ind., 40.3
6. Youngstown, 40.2
7. Reading, Pa., 39.6
8. Macon, Ga., 38.6
9. Cleveland, 36.9
10. Gainesville, Fla., 36.6