Rural poverty rate is stable, says Census Bureau
Household income edged downward in rural America in 2022, but the poverty rate held steady at 15 percent, said the Census Bureau on Tuesday. Median household income in rural America was more than $21,000 lower than in metropolitan areas, helping to explain why rural poverty rates are higher than the U.S. average.
Rural-urban poverty gap narrowed over past decade
The rural poverty rate has exceeded the urban rate ever since the government began tracking both in the 1960s. The difference, 4.5 percentage points in the 1980s, has narrowed to an average of 3.1 points over the past 10 years, said the USDA in updating its rural poverty and well-being webpage.
Rural poverty rate is 3.3 points higher than in town
The poverty gap between rural and metropolitan areas was just as wide in 2019 as the year before, said the Census Bureau on Tuesday. Poverty rates declined across the board last year, but analysts said the pandemic has made the improvements meaningless with the country now in a deep recession.
Poverty rate returns to pre-recession level in rural America
After cresting at 17.7 percent during the slow recovery from the Great Recession, the rural poverty rate is back at pre-recession levels, said the Census Bureau on Tuesday. But the growth in household income that accompanied four years of declines in the poverty rate nationwide has slowed, …