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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

American Community Survey

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  • Census data reveal pockets of wealth and poverty, By Sabrina Tavernise and Robert Gebeloff, December 14, 2010, New York Times: “The three places in the country with the highest median household income are all in Virginia, according to census datareleased on Tuesday, while those with the highest rates of poverty are in four American Indian reservations, all in South Dakota. The Virginia counties of Fairfax and Loudoun and the city of Falls Church had the highest median income, according to the data, which spans 2005 to 2009. Falls Church was the highest at $113,313, up by 17 percent from 2000. The lowest median income was in Owsley County, Ky., at $18,869. Of the five counties with poverty rates higher than 39 percent, four contain or are in American Indian reservations in South Dakota. The fifth, Willacy County, Tex., is on the Gulf Coast. The data is from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, which samples 1 in 10 Americans on a variety of social, economic and demographic topics. It is the single largest release of data in the bureau’s history, with 11 billion individual estimates covering 670,000 geographic locations. It gives details on the characteristics of American society based on surveys, and is separate from the 2010 Census, which will provide a precise count of all Americans…”
  • New data to shed light on Minn. towns, big city neighborhoods, By Elizabeth Dunbar, December 14, 2010, Minnesota Public Radio: “There’s a reason the new school is being built on the other side of town, and that the bus route map looks the way it does — planners studied census data to better understand where and how we live and work. The U.S. Census Bureau collects data through the ongoing American Community Survey that inform decisions about public infrastructure. For the first time Tuesday, officials will release survey data collected over a five-year period, replacing the information that used to be collected on the long form of the census once every 10 years…”
  • Black segregation in US drops to lowest in century, Associated Press, December 14, 2010, Washington Post: “America’s neighborhoods took large strides toward racial integration in the last decade as blacks and whites chose to live near each other at the highest levels in a century. Still, segregation in many parts of the U.S. persisted, with Hispanics in particular turning away from whites. A broad range of 2009 census data released Tuesday also found a mixed economic picture, with the poverty rate swinging wildly among counties from 4 percent to more than 40 percent as the nation grappled with a housing boom and bust. Just three U.S. localities reported median household income of more than $100,000, down from seven in 2000. Segregation among blacks and whites increased in one-fourth of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas, compared to nearly one-half for Hispanics…”
  • Census data out today may offer skewed view of south Louisiana, By Michelle Krupa, December 14, 2010, New Orleans Times-Picayune: “Today marks a milestone for the U.S. Census with the release this morning of the first-ever set of five-year estimates of the American Communities Survey, which has replaced the ‘long form’ questionnaire that for decades went to select households as part of the decennial census. It includes information collected between Jan. 1, 2005 and Dec. 31, 2009, on 72 topics that go beyond the basic data contained in the Census short form, such as citizenship status, geographic mobility, means of transportation to work and educational status. Because of the volume of data available, estimates will be provided for every state, county, city and town in the country — more than 670,000 distinct geographic areas…”
  • U.S. Census: Impoverished areas growing in El Paso County, By Maria St. Louis-Sanchez, December 14, 2010, Colorado Springs Gazette: “The poor in El Paso County are growing in number, and more areas of the region are considered impoverished, according to U.S. Census data released Tuesday. Data released by the 2005-2009 American Community Survey show that 24 of the county’s 111 neighborhoods have an estimated 20 percent or more of their population living below the poverty level. In 2000, there were seven neighborhoods with a poverty level that high. In September, American Community Survey data revealed that in 2009, the poverty rate in El Paso County was at its highest point in five years at 11.5 percent. In 2009, the federal poverty level was $22,050 for a family of four. The 2005-2009 American Community Survey are five-year estimates of the population throughout the United States. The estimates mark the first time that neighborhood-level information has been released by the U.S. Census since 2000. The estimates are not part of the 2010 Census, which will have its first release of data on Dec. 21…”