Polk 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* 30,305 100.00% 37,658 100.00%
In Poverty 6,496 21.44% 6,540 17.37%
Not in Poverty 23,809 78.56% 31,118 82.63%
11 Years and Under 4,912 16.21% 5,950 15.80%
In Poverty 1,383 4.56% 1,484 3.94%
Not in Poverty 3,529 11.64% 4,466 11.86%
12 to 17 Years 2,639 8.71% 3,282 8.72%
In Poverty 670 2.21% 739 1.96%
Not in Poverty 1,969 6.50% 2,543 6.75%
18 to 64 Years 16,779 55.37% 21,395 56.81%
In Poverty 3,137 10.35% 3,454 9.17%
Not in Poverty 13,642 45.02% 17,941 47.64%
65 Years and Above 5,975 19.72% 7,031 18.67%
In Poverty 1,306 4.31% 863 2.29%
Not in Poverty 4,669 15.41% 6,168 16.38%

* 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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