The census bureau has released its annual Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) for every state and county in the U.S. These are income and poverty estimates for U.S. and PA counties. Above is their graph showing trends in median income for the 10 county region plus the U.S. and Pennsylvania. Centre County, highlighted in the graph in pink to illustrate a 90% confidence interval. Its income estimate is very close to the U.S. and PA estimates. I realize that this graph is hard to read. The overall graph shows that the while the overall trend in income has been upward, there is considerable variability among the counties. The 10 counties used are the ones used in posts on area corona virus. Median income is the income value placed in the middle if all incomes ranked from highest to lowest.
% in Poverty
The bar graph above shows where each county stands in the most recent year in median income relative to the U.S, PA, and each other. Pennsylvania’s income level ($68,931) was very close to the U.S. level ($69,717). Centre county has the highest income level ($66,239) followed by Westmoreland ($63,814) in the 10 county region while Fayette County was the lowest ($47,812). All of the counties considered were below the state and U.S. median income level.
The above graph shows poverty rates for the U.S., PA and the 10 county region. Here, we see that U.S., PA, and the 10 counties have followed very different paths from 1997 to 2021. In 2020 the rates for each county decreased or stayed the same except for Fayette county. In 2021 these rates rebounded.
The above bar graph shows where the counties stand with respect to the U.S, PA, and each other. Even though Centre County had the highest median income, it had the 2nd highest poverty rate in the region behind Fayette County suggesting a high income disparity where Penn State is located. Westmoreland and Bedford counties likewise had the lowest poverty rates. With the highest poverty rate and the lowest median income rate simultaneously, Fayette had a lower income disparity. The income and poverty estimates coming out for U.S. and PA Counties shows where some of the less fortunate this holiday season in the area are.