INDIANAPOLIS – Poverty is spreading faster in Marion County, Ind., compared to the state of Indiana and the United States, according to fresh U.S. Census data compiled and analyzed by the SAVI Community Information System in its new Trends in Poverty report.
Marion County’s 21.5 percent poverty rate is nearly six points higher than Indiana’s 15.6 percent and the 15.9 percent U.S. rate.
“Based on federally established guidelines, a family of four with an annual income of less than $23,500 is considered in poverty,” says Sharon Kandris, the SAVI project director. “In Marion County, it’s troubling to report that one in five people are living in poverty, and for some populations, that number is significantly higher, according to our analysis.”
According to SAVI, the Marion County poverty rate has nearly doubled since 2000, from 11.4 percent to 21.5 percent in 2012.
Kandris says deeper analysis of the poverty statistics, supported by SAVI’s access to geographic data and mapping technology, reveal extremes in poverty from community to community. For example, the poverty levels in high-poverty neighborhoods are a full seven times higher than the rates in Marion County’s lower-poverty neighborhoods.
The trends report also reveals poverty rates are higher in Hispanic and African-American communities and in families with single mothers. Hispanics in Marion County are the most affected by poverty with 42 percent rate, and poverty is increasing at its highest rate within this demographic, doubling from 2000 to 2012.
Some 31 percent of the county’s African-Americans are in poverty, a number that is slightly higher than the nation’s rate.
Single mother families in Marion County have a much higher poverty rate at 45 percent than married couple families, which have a 11 percent rate.
The SAVI report also explores poverty trends related to education, including evidence that earning a high school diploma cuts one’s chances of being in poverty by half and that poverty chances are further reduced for every additional year of education completed.
Additionally, crime rates are 5 times higher in high-poverty neighborhoods compared to low-poverty neighborhoods.