Scott County

POVERTY BY AGE

While they say little about economic ups and downs in the decade between Censuses, income and poverty data provide us with economic "snapshots" of an area at the time of enumeration that can in turn be compared with economic data gathered from earlier Censuses. Poverty status, as measured in this chart, is determined by Poverty Thresholds, which take into account a number of factors, including income and family size and structure. For example, the 2000 Poverty Threshold for a family of four in the continental United States with two related children was 17,463. However, Poverty Thresholds are misleading because they do not provide an accurate picture of what a “poor” family’s life is like. According to the National Center for Children in poverty, most families of four would have to make twice their assigned Poverty Threshold in order to provide their children with basic necessities, such as housing, food, and health care.

Poverty by Age, 1990 and 2000
1990 2000
Number Percent Number Percent
Total Population* 5,578 100.00% 5,475 100.00%
In Poverty 643 11.53% 533 9.74%
Not in Poverty 4,935 88.47% 4,942 90.26%
11 Years and Under 970 17.39% 886 16.18%
In Poverty 138 2.47% 147 2.68%
Not in Poverty 832 14.92% 739 13.50%
12 to 17 Years 496 8.89% 487 8.89%
In Poverty 71 1.27% 34 0.62%
Not in Poverty 425 7.62% 453 8.27%
18 to 64 Years 3,157 56.60% 3,245 59.27%
In Poverty 301 5.40% 298 5.44%
Not in Poverty 2,856 51.20% 2,947 53.83%
65 Years and Above 955 17.12% 857 15.65%
In Poverty 133 2.38% 54 0.99%
Not in Poverty 822 14.74% 803 14.67%

* The total population is the population for which poverty status is determined. Therefore, the total in this table should not be expected to match the total population in the population growth topic.

Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).

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