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The decade of the 1990s was one of growing U.S. prosperity, ending with record-high
average income levels and the lowest unemployment rate in 30 years. As a
result, the incidence of poverty dropped from a decade earlier, according
to the 2000 Census. This welcome decline occurred particularly in rural
and small-town nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) areas, where the poverty rate
fell from 17.1 percent to 14.6 percent over the decade. Despite this improvement,
over 400 nonmetro counties (out of a total of 2,308 nonmetro counties, based
on 1993 metro-nonmetro definitions) had poverty rates of 20 percent or more
in 2000, well above the overall nonmetro average.
For the most part, these areas of high poverty are of long standing,
with conditions stemming from a complex of social and economic factors
rather than from personal events, such as temporary job layoffs or loss
of a spouse. Of the 442 nonmetro counties classified as high-poverty counties
in 2000 (based on 1999 income), three-fourths reflect the low income of
their racial and ethnic minorities and are classified as Black,
Hispanic,
or Native
American high-poverty counties. In these counties, either:
- a majority of the poor are Black, Hispanic, or Native American; or
- it is only the high incidence of poverty among these minority groups
that brings the county's overall rate above 20 percent.
Of the remaining fourth of high-poverty counties, most (91 counties)
are located in the Southern
Highlands of eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, and parts of Missouri
and Oklahoma. In these areas, the poor are predominantly non-Hispanic
Whites. The residual
high-poverty counties (27) fall outside of the classification of Black,
Hispanic, Native American, or Southern Highlands. They include thinly
settled farming areas in the northern Great Plains, where annual income
levels vary widely depending on wheat and cattle prices and output, and
the only two high-poverty counties where Asians account for over half
of the poor.
For details about this classification, see Defining High-Poverty
Counties. Also see the analysis
of the particular county types for a more in-depth look and lists
of the counties by type.
High poverty frequently occurs in an ethnic or subregional context, but
the factors affecting poverty differ within these contexts. The diversity
within these high-poverty areas means that there is no single recipe for
prosperity. Strategies to improve the economic well-being of rural residents
in such areas will differ based on individual and community needs.
Defining High-Poverty Counties
USDA's Economic Research Service has developed a typology of
high-poverty counties that reflects racial/ethnic and regional differences
in the character of these counties. High-poverty counties are defined
here as nonmetro counties with a poverty rate of 20 percent or more
based on 1999 income reported in the 2000 Census. This definition
is consistent with the Census Bureau practice of identifying poverty
areas. Of the 444 nonmetro counties (based on the 1993 Office of Management
and Budget definition) classified as high-poverty counties in 2000,
three-fourths reflect the low income of racial and ethnic minorities.
Black (210 counties), Hispanic (74 counties), or Native American (40
counties) high-poverty areas are identified by one of two conditions:
(1) over half of the poor population in the county is from one of
these minority group or (2) over half of the poor population is non-Hispanic
White, but the high-poverty rate of a minority group pushes the county’s
poverty rate over 20 percent. For example, Alabama’s Crenshaw
County has a poverty population that is 55 percent non-Hispanic White
and 44 percent Black. The poverty rate for Whites is 17 percent, but
the 39-percent poverty rate of Blacks pushes the overall county poverty
rate above 20 percent. The Southern Highlands (91 counties) high-poverty
areas are located in this part of the country and the poor are predominantly
non-Hispanic. The remaining 27 high-poverty counties fall outside
of the definition of racial/ethnic minority and Southern Highland
county types.
The typology of high-poverty counties used here is based on county-level
data. Once the high-poverty counties are identified, comparisons
among high-poverty types are made for persons or households within
the county by poverty level, education, employment, family structure,
disability, and language proficiency to assess key differences.
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Go to the analysis of high-poverty counties
by type.
See the related Amber Waves article, Anatomy
of Nonmetro High-Poverty Areas: Common in Plight, Distinctive in Nature
Download all classified high-poverty
counties (in Excel).
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