Ashley 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* 23,992 100.00% 23,917 100.00%
In Poverty 5,022 20.93% 4,182 17.49%
Not in Poverty 18,970 79.07% 19,735 82.51%
11 Years and Under 4,338 18.08% 4,230 17.69%
In Poverty 1,327 5.53% 1,116 4.67%
Not in Poverty 3,011 12.55% 3,114 13.02%
12 to 17 Years 2,454 10.23% 2,225 9.30%
In Poverty 597 2.49% 564 2.36%
Not in Poverty 1,857 7.74% 1,661 6.94%
18 to 64 Years 13,843 57.70% 14,296 59.77%
In Poverty 2,246 9.36% 1,959 8.19%
Not in Poverty 11,597 48.34% 12,337 51.58%
65 Years and Above 3,357 13.99% 3,166 13.24%
In Poverty 852 3.55% 543 2.27%
Not in Poverty 2,505 10.44% 2,623 10.97%

* 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