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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* 326,515 100.00% 362,544 100.00%
In Poverty 26,220 8.03% 34,201 9.43%
Not in Poverty 300,295 91.97% 328,343 90.57%
11 Years and Under 52,715 16.14% 59,570 16.43%
In Poverty 6,191 1.90% 8,639 2.38%
Not in Poverty 46,524 14.25% 50,931 14.05%
12 to 17 Years 23,641 7.24% 30,333 8.37%
In Poverty 2,495 0.76% 3,364 0.93%
Not in Poverty 21,146 6.48% 26,969 7.44%
18 to 64 Years 200,309 61.35% 219,406 60.52%
In Poverty 12,953 3.97% 18,150 5.01%
Not in Poverty 187,356 57.38% 201,256 55.51%
65 Years and Above 49,850 15.27% 53,235 14.68%
In Poverty 4,581 1.40% 4,048 1.12%
Not in Poverty 45,269 13.86% 49,187 13.57%

* 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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