2010 As can be seen from the map of 2010, the percent of those living below the poverty line has gone up since the map of 1970. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income had declined as well as the poverty rate increasing. In fact, in the 52 years since estimates have been published for poverty, we have seen four consecutive increases in the amount of poverty stricken individuals. As of 2010, 15.1 percent (or 46.2 million) of the American public was living in poverty. This was up significantly from the 12.3 % in 1975.
Due to the great recession of 2007-2009, as well as the collapse of the realty bubble, poverty has risen. What is interesting in this map compared to the map of 1970 is that the west and northwest have become more rife with economic disparity. This can be most probably credited with the loss of the timber industry in the Northwest and other manufacturing jobs that have been lost due to globalization. Malheur County in Oregon, Whitman County in Washington, and Madison County in Idaho all had some of the poorest populations in the nation (Duffy). The reason has been credited to a lack of well-paying jobs. While the percentage of these states poverty rates hover around the national average of 15%, some of the counties found here are more around 30%.
The South, however, still has the highest percentage of poverty stricken states in the nation. Out of the 20 states with the highest poverty rates, 12 of them are in the south. Mississippi is top of this list with 22.7% living in poverty (Sturgis).
According to the census of 2010, the highest poverty was found in Mississippi (21%) and New Mexico (22.6%), while the lowest was found in New Hampshire (8.8%), Maryland (10.4%), and New Jersey (10.5%) (Bishaw).
Works Cited
Bishaw, Alemayehu. Poverty: 2010 and 2011 American Community Survey Briefs. Census. Gov. September 2012. Web. December 8, 2015. https://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acsbr11-01.pdf
Duffy, Lizzy. Pacific Northwest’s Poorest Counties Face Harder Times Than Nation. Opb.org. January 12, 2015. Web. December 8, 2015. http://www.opb.org/news/blog/newsblog/pacific-northwests-poorest-counties-face-harder-times-than-nation/
Sturgis, Sue. Latest Census numbers show deepening Southern poverty.southernstudies.org. September 16, 2011. Web. December 8, 2015. http://www.southernstudies.org/2011/09/latest-census-numbers-show-deepening-southern-poverty.html