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Poverty remained high even after a decade of strong economic growth.
After big declines during the sixties and seventies, poverty remains high in rural North Carolina. Even the dramatic economic growth during the nineties was not enough to have a significant impact. The number of rural North Carolinians living in poverty increased during the 1990s by nearly 50,000, and the total number of rural people in poverty is now more than 560,000.
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Source: US Bureau of the Census
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Poverty in the Coastal region remains high.
Twenty-three counties in North Carolina have poverty rates over 18 percent. All of these counties are rural, and 19 of them are located in the Coastal Plain region. Of the 23 counties that currently have poverty rates over 18 percent, 20 have persistent poverty. The rates in these counties have been above 18 percent since the U.S. started collecting data on poverty in 1960.
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Source: US Bureau of the Census
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Child poverty rates are especially disturbing.
In rural North Carolina, the poverty rate for children is 45 percent higher than urban areas. In 2000, 181,682 rural children were growing up in poverty, an increase of 12,668 over the 1990s. In six rural counties, the child poverty rate was above 30 percent.
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Source: US Bureau of the Census
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The child poverty rate in the Northeast is over twice the rate in the Charlotte region.
In the Northeast, 26 percent of children live in poverty compared to 12 percent in the Charlotte region. The child poverty rate in the East and Southeast is above 20 percent.
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Source: US Bureau of the Census
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About half of those living in poverty are white, but poverty rates
are much higher for blacks and other minorities.
Of the more than 560,000 rural people living in poverty, 290,000 are white. However, the poverty rate for rural blacks, 27 percent, is more than 1.5 times greater than the rate for rural whites. In 10 Coastal Plain counties, more than a third of blacks live in poverty. The poverty rate for American Indians is 22 percent and for Hispanics, 28 percent.
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Source: US Bureau of the Census
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Poverty rates increase after recession
The poverty rate in North Carolina increased from the 2000 level of 12.3 percent to 15.0 percent for 2002-2003. The recession and increasing unemployment rates in North Carolina are a likely cause of the increase in poverty. North Carolina had the third highest increase in poverty in 2002-2003 and was one of only 7 states that experienced and increase.
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Source: US Bureau of the Census
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