Mineral 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* 6,305 100.00% 5,003 100.00%
In Poverty 804 12.75% 761 15.21%
Not in Poverty 5,501 87.25% 4,242 84.79%
11 Years and Under 1,241 19.68% 718 14.35%
In Poverty 188 2.98% 114 2.28%
Not in Poverty 1,053 16.70% 604 12.07%
12 to 17 Years 461 7.31% 485 9.69%
In Poverty 23 0.36% 150 3.00%
Not in Poverty 438 6.95% 335 6.70%
18 to 64 Years 3,769 59.78% 2,764 55.25%
In Poverty 436 6.92% 386 7.72%
Not in Poverty 3,333 52.86% 2,378 47.53%
65 Years and Above 834 13.23% 1,036 20.71%
In Poverty 157 2.49% 111 2.22%
Not in Poverty 677 10.74% 925 18.49%

* 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).

Home | About | Help | Contact | Use Policy