Proportion of Missouri Adults (Age 18-64) Having an Income Below Federal Poverty Level 2000
The 2000 Population Census reports that the number of Missourians in the 18-64 age cohort with income below the poverty line increased during the 1990s. The Census reported 333,711 persons in the 18-64 age cohort in 1990 whose income was below the poverty line. The 2000 Census reports 355,046 Missourians in that age cohort having an income below the poverty line - an increase of 21,335 from 1990.
In contrast, the number of Missourians age 65 and older with income below the poverty line declined from 99,306 in 1990 to 70, 476 in 2000 - a 29.0 percent decrease. Likewise, the number of Missouri children below the poverty line declined from 230,058 in 1990 to 212,369 in 2000 - a 7.7 percent decrease.
Although the number of adults in the 18-64 cohort increased by 6.4 percent during the 1990s, the proportion of population in that age cohort having income below the poverty line declined from 11.1 percent in 1990 to 10.7 percent in 2000. Therefore, as a cohort, the 18-64 year olds were relatively less poor in 2000. The reason why the number of low income adults could increase during the 1990s while the proportion of low income adults could decline, is that the size of the 18-64 population cohort increased by 330,000 - a 10.6 percent increase
(Table 1).
Change in the Population of Low Income Adults (age 18-64) from 1990 - 2000 by County and Region.
| Map 1 click map for larger version 
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Map 2 click map for larger version 
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For purposes of this discussion, we refer to this cohort as "adult poverty". Note that this does not include persons age 65 and older. Table 2 reports the number of low-income adults in 1990 and 2000 for each Missouri county. It also reports the percent of each county's 18-64 population having poverty level income in both 1990 and 2000. Map 1 shows the percent change in adult poverty population in each county from 1990 to 2000 and Map 2 shows the percentage of the adult population below the poverty line in each county in 2000.
Table 2 and Map 1 show that there were 58 counties in which the number of adults below the poverty line declined during the 1990s, and there were 57 counties in which the number increased. Examination of Map 1 provides some indication of differences between counties in which the adult poverty rate declined and those counties in which adult poverty increased.
Counties in which numbers of adults below the poverty line declined from 1990-2000
The 32 counties in which adult poverty declined by more than 12 percent (Map 1) were, for the most part, relatively small population rural counties concentrated in rural north and southeast Missouri. In the section that follows, adult poverty data are reported for three different sets of regions - University of Missouri Extension Regions, Missouri Department of Transportation Districts and Missouri Department of Economic Development Regions. In that section, adult poverty data are reported by region totals and also by counties within each region. Those data show that of the eight University of Extension Regions, the number of adults with income below the poverty line declined during the 1990s in only three regions - Northeast, Northwest and Southeast.
Counties in which number of adults below the poverty line increased during the 1990s.
There were 57 counties in which the number of adults with an income below the poverty line increased during the 1990s. As evident from Map 1 most of those counties are located in and around the major metropolitan areas. They are also counties in which population and employment increased significantly during the 1990s. Population and economic growth increased the demand for workers, both high skill, high wage workers and lower skill, lower wage service workers. Consequently, gaps between high and low earnings increased at the same time. Particularly significant examples in Missouri include Taney County (Branson) in which the number of adults with incomes below the poverty line increased from 1,657 in 1990 to 2,685 in 2000 - an increase of 62.0 percent. Likewise, the changes were nearly the same in adjoining Christian County and Stone County in which the number of adults with poverty level income increased by 65.9 percent and 44.9 percent respectively. Similar, but somewhat less dramatic increases occurred in St. Louis, St. Charles, Clay, Platte, Cole, Camden, Jasper, etc. for the same reasons.
Regional data that follows shows that the number of adults having an income below the poverty level increased in five of the University of Missouri eight Extension Regions during the 1990s.
Low Income Among College Populations Another factor that affects adult poverty rates is the location of large numbers of college and university students in a county. Such is the case, for example, in Boone County where a large number of undergraduate students and graduate and professional students reside. A high percentage of the students, including married students, will report relatively low earnings. Similar effects are found in Adair (Truman State and KCOM), Johnson (CMSU), Phelps (UMR) and Greene (SMSU).
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OSEDA Regional Grouping of Counties Many demographic factors vary by region within the state of Missouri. For the convenience of our user community, OSEDA prepares tables using three different regional groupings of counties: Extension, Economic Development and Transportation. For each of these groupings, one table summarizes the indicators by regional total and a second table shows values for each county grouped by region. Users may select the county grouping most helpful for their application and understanding. |
Variation in 1990-2000 Adult Poverty Rates By Region
University of Missouri Extension Regions
Table 3 shows that the adult poverty rate declined in seven of the eight extension regions during the 1990s. The exception was the East Central Region in which the proportion of adults having an income below the poverty line increased from 8.2 percent in 1990 to 8.7 percent in 2000. But with only 8.7 percent of adults having an income below the poverty line East Central still had the lowest adult poverty rate among the eight extension regions in 2000.
Change in number of adults with income below the poverty line very much followed regional patterns. As reported above, there were 58 counties in which the number of adults with poverty level income declined during the 1990s, and 57 counties in which the number below the poverty level increased. The counties in which the number decreased were concentrated in three of the eight Extension Regions - Northwest, Northeast and Southeast. In Northwest, the number of adults below the poverty level decreased in 14 of 15 region counties; in Northeast the number of low-income adults declined in 12 of 16 region counties; and, in Southeast the number of adults below the poverty line declined in 13 of the 16 counties. Those three regions account for 39 of the 58 counties (67.2 percent) in which the number of low-income adults declined. Among the other five regions, it was only in South Central that more than four counties experienced a decline.
The number of adults with income below the poverty line increased in five of the Extension Regions. The largest numerical increase was in East Central in which there were 11,000 more adults below the poverty line in 2000 than in 1990. East Central was followed by Southwest where there were 8,400 more low-income adults in 2000 than in 1990 (an 18.4 percent increase). The Central Region had a 14.2 percent increase with nearly 4,000 more low-income adults in 2000.
As emphasized above, the greatest increases in number of low-income adults occurred in those regions that experienced the greatest increases in employment and income during the 1990s.
Missouri Department of Transportation Districts
Among the ten MODOT Districts the number of adults having an income below the poverty line declined from 1990 to 2000 in five of the Districts. There were modest decreases in number of low-income adults in all three north Missouri districts (St. Joe, Macon, and Hannibal) and in the Willow Springs and Sikeston Districts in south Missouri. The largest decreases occurred in the St. Joseph and Sikeston Districts. In the St. Joseph District the proportion of adults below the poverty line declined from 14.4 percent in 1990 to 11.6 percent in 2000 and in the Sikeston District low-income adults declined from 17.7 percent of the adult population in 1990 to 14.9 percent in 2000.
The number of adults with an income below the poverty line increased in five of the MODOT Districts. The increases were relatively large in the Joplin District (18.6 percent), the Jefferson City District (15.5 percent), the Springfield District (14.4 percent) and the St. Louis District (12.1 percent). Increases in the number of low-income adults were more modest in the Kansas City District (6.4 percent).
Generally, the Districts in which the numbers of low-income adults declined during the 1990s are those in which there was the least amount of employment and population increase. Conversely, those Districts in which the number of low-income adults increased during the 1990s were those that had the greatest increases in employment and population. That is a pattern that emerged during the 1990s in much of the nation. Significant economic growth led to major increases in both high wage, high earnings jobs and to low wage employment. Generally, throughout the nation, and Missouri as well, a majority of low-income adults during the 1990s were employed. However, it typically took more than one job, and often two jobs, for a family of four or five or more to reach an income above the poverty line.
The pattern of where changes occurred in numbers of adults having an income below the poverty line in Missouri during the 1990s was not atypical of patterns of economic and demographic change throughout the nation.
Missouri Department of Economic Development Regions
The number of low-income adults declined in five of the 13 DED Regions during the 1990s. Those regions included all of north Missouri and the two regions that comprise much of the southeast corner of the state. The pattern of decline in size of low-income population during the 1990s was distinctively regional. For example, in the DED Northwest Region ten of the Region's 11 counties experienced a decline; in the North Central Region all eight counties declined; and, in the Northeast Region the number of low-income adults declined in eight of the Region's 12 counties. The same pattern occurred in the Bootheel Region in which the number of low-income adults declined in nine of the Region's ten counties.
The remaining 23 counties in which the number of low-income adults declined are more scattered among the regions although there were five in the East Central - Cape Girardeau Region and four in the Lake Ozark-Rolla Region. In those regions as well, the counties experiencing a decline in low-income adult population are generally relatively small population rural counties.
The counties in which low-income adult population increased during the 1990s are also generally concentrated by region. In eight of the 13 DED Regions the low-income adult population increased. In several of the regions such as St. Louis MSA, Springfield-Branson, Central and Southwest, virtually all counties in each experienced a significant increase in number of low-income adults.
Generally, the DED Regions in which the numbers of low-income adults declined during the 1990s are those in which there was the least amount of employment and population increase. Conversely, those Districts in which the number of low-income adults increased during the 1990s were those that had the greatest increases in employment and population. That is a pattern that emerged during the 1990s in much of the nation. Significant economic growth led to major increases in both high wage, high earnings jobs and to low wage employment. Generally, throughout the nation, and Missouri as well, a majority of low-income adults during the 1990s were employed. However, it typically took more than one job, and sometimes two jobs, for a family of four or five or more to reach an income above the poverty line.
The pattern of where changes occurred in numbers of adults having an income below the poverty line in Missouri during the 1990s was not atypical of patterns of economic and demographic change throughout the nation.
Additional tables are attached which report Missouri Adults (Age 18-64) Below Poverty Level 1990-2000 for three different sets of regions: eight University of Missouri Extension regions; 10 Missouri Department of Transportation regions; and 13 Missouri Department of Economic Development regions.
| Detailed Tables about Missouri Adults (Age 18-64) Below Poverty Level 1990-2000 | ||
| The following links provide detailed tables of Missouri Adults (Age 18-64) Below Poverty Level 1990-2000. They are in both HTML and Adobe Acrobat (PDF) formats. | ||
| All Missouri Counties | ||
| Missouri Adults Below Poverty 1990-2000 - By County with State Totals | HTML | |
| Regional Tables | ||
| UO/E Regions | ||
| Missouri Adults Below Poverty 1990-2000 - By County with State Totals - By UM Extension Region | HTML | |
| Missouri Adults Below Poverty 1990-2000 - By County with State Totals - By County Within UM Extension Region | HTML | |
| DED Regions | ||
| Missouri Adults Below Poverty 1990-2000 - By County with State Totals - By DED Region | HTML | |
| Missouri Adults Below Poverty 1990-2000 - By County with State Totals - By County Within DED Region | HTML | |
| MoDOT Regions | ||
| Missouri Adults Below Poverty 1990-2000 - By County with State Totals - By DOT District | HTML | |
| Missouri Adults Below Poverty 1990-2000 - By County with State Totals - By County Within DOT District | HTML | |
This file last modified Thursday May 07, 2009, 11:06:44
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