Persistent Poverty Counties Archives

HAC’s Research Director Testifies on Persistent Poverty on Capitol Hill

November 14, 2022/in Advocacy, Events, News, Policy Appalachia, Colonias, High Need Regions, Lower Mississippi Delta, Native American Lands, Persistent Poverty, Persistent Poverty Counties, Rural Policy, Southern Blackbelt, Vulnerable Populations /by Daniel Stern

On Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 10:00 am EST the Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance convened a hybrid hearing entitled, “Persistent Poverty in America: Addressing Chronic Disinvestment in Colonias, the Southern Black Belt, and the U.S. Territories.” Lance George, HAC’s Director of Research and Information, provided testimony during the hearing.

Watch the Hearing

For more information on Persistent Poverty, read The Persistence of Poverty in Rural America.

Housing Assistance Council

The Persistence of Poverty in Rural America

April 8, 2022/in Information Products, Rural Research Briefs High Need Regions, Persistent Poverty, Persistent Poverty Counties, Rural Demographics, Vulnerable Populations /by Daniel Stern

Persistently poor counties are classified as having poverty rates of 20 percent or more for three consecutive decades. Using this metric, the Housing Assistance Council estimates there were 377 persistently poor counties in 2020 using data from the Census Bureau’s recently released 2016-2020 American Community Survey, the 2006-2010 American Community Survey and the 2000 Decennial Census of Population and Housing.

Download Research Brief (PDF)

Respond to the 2020 Census

March 12, 2020/in Announcements, Rural News Persistent Poverty Counties /by actualize

The 2020 Census is happening now and HAC encourages everyone living in the United States to respond. The Census is supposed to count every resident. The numbers are used to determine how billions of dollars of assistance are distributed, as well as how representation in Congress is divided. If you don’t respond, or if the Census misses you, your community gets fewer resources.

The 2020 Census does not ask about citizenship or documentation. It is illegal for the Census Bureau to share any of your information with any other government agencies, including law enforcement or immigration.

You can complete your questionnaire online, by phone, or by mail. Click here for information from the U.S. Census Bureau about the Census and how to respond.

You can complete the census online or by phone in 13 different languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Russian, Arabic, Tagalog, Polish, French, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and Japanese.

The Census Bureau also offers webpages and guides in 59 non-English languages, including American Sign Language, as well as guides in Braille and large print. Click here to learn more.

Rural Poverty Remains Unchanged: Incomes Also Stagnant in Rural Areas

September 16, 2015/in Rural Research Notes High Need Regions, Persistent Poverty, Persistent Poverty Counties /by actualize

The number of rural Americans living in poverty has remained relatively unchanged, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau. Overall, the official poverty rate for the United States was 14.8 percent in 2014 – the same as in 2013. Released today, the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual report, Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014, estimates that 46.7 million people had incomes below the poverty line in 2014, making this the fourth year without a statistically significant change in the number of people in poverty at the national level.

Poverty in Rural America

June 28, 2012/in Rural Research Briefs High Need Regions, Persistent Poverty, Persistent Poverty Counties, Vulnerable Populations /by actualize

HAC has conducted extensive research on poverty in rural America, including: