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McDowell County

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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* 34,985 100.00% 26,981 100.00%
In Poverty 13,195 37.72% 10,169 37.69%
Not in Poverty 21,790 62.28% 16,812 62.31%
11 Years and Under 6,030 17.24% 3,910 14.49%
In Poverty 3,261 9.32% 2,223 8.24%
Not in Poverty 2,769 7.91% 1,687 6.25%
12 to 17 Years 4,104 11.73% 2,369 8.78%
In Poverty 1,834 5.24% 1,102 4.08%
Not in Poverty 2,270 6.49% 1,267 4.70%
18 to 64 Years 19,760 56.48% 16,474 61.06%
In Poverty 7,048 20.15% 5,929 21.97%
Not in Poverty 12,712 36.34% 10,545 39.08%
65 Years and Above 5,091 14.55% 4,228 15.67%
In Poverty 1,052 3.01% 915 3.39%
Not in Poverty 4,039 11.54% 3,313 12.28%

* 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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