How Poor Is Centre County?

By Andy

pockets The Census Bureau loves talking about money, or the lack thereof. While poverty is more than a simple economic problem, factors such as income are still important.

On Wednesday, the Census Bureau released its 2008 data on poverty and income for all of the nation’s 3,000 counties. Check out this super infographic on the New York Times site that shows some powerful numbers.

The median household income in Centre County is $47,843, as opposed to $52,029, the nationwide figure.

In the United States, the poverty threshold for a family of four is $21,834. Of course, this income level varies for people in different living situations. In Centre County, 14.8% of all people live below their respective poverty lines. The national figure is 13.2%.

As you can see, our median household income is slightly below average, and our percentage of people below the poverty threshold is slightly above average.

Are we a poor county? In Ziebach County, South Dakota, the median income is $25,592, and 54.4% of residents live below the poverty line. We’re not a wealthy county, but we should be grateful for our relatively average status. Dwell over that this Thanksgiving break.

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