The Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) also include estimates for each school district in the U.S. The graph above shows poverty rates over the last 25 years for 5 local school districts: Altoona, Greater Johnstown, Indiana, and State College. We can see that there was a decrease in the rates for 4 out of the 5 school districts considered in 2020. The rates then rebounded by 2022. Overall, Greater Johnstown (black line above). had the second highest poverty rate in Pennsylvania at 40.4%. I could not include more than 5 counties in the graph to make it readable. The poorest school districts are in the Alleghenies.
Secondly, the Altoona School District’s (light blue line above) rate was exactly half that of Greater Johnstown’s at 20.2%. The Somerset School District (orange line above) had a rate of 16.9%. The Indiana (green line) and State College (dark blue line) school districts had rates below the U.S. rate of 15.5% at 14.8% and 5.9% respectively. The map below shows poverty rates for the 500 school districts in Pennsylvania. Darker green districts have higher poverty rates. You can see how your district fares at the SAIPE data tool.
Below is a table listing the top 20 poorest school districts in Pennsylvania. This is out of a total of 500 PA school districts. Four of the top 6 districts are located in Allegheny County and sixteen of the top 20 districts are in the Allegheny region of the state. Conversely, the map above shows darker colored districts in the western half of PA. The SAIPE estimates for each school district in the U.S. are a useful tool. Consequently, the poorest school districts are in the Alleghenies.
| Rank | Name | % in Poverty |
| 1 | Sto-Rox School District | 40.5 |
| 2 | Greater Johnstown School District | 40.4 |
| 3 | Duquesne City School District | 38.2 |
| 4 | Salisbury-Elk Lick School District | 36.1 |
| 5 | Wilkinsburg Borough School District | 35.6 |
| 6 | McKeesport Area School District | 34.9 |
| 7 | Sharon City School District | 34.6 |
| 8 | Chester-Upland School District | 33.4 |
| 9 | New Kensington-Arnold School District | 33.3 |
| 10 | Washington School District | 32.6 |
| 11 | Erie City School District | 32.5 |
| 12 | Farrell Area School District | 32.4 |
| 13 | Ferndale Area School District | 32.2 |
| 14 | Harrisburg City School District | 31.9 |
| 15 | New Castle Area School District | 31.5 |
| 16 | Monessen City School District | 30.5 |
| 17 | Aliquippa School District | 30.1 |
| 17 | Steelton-Highspire School District | 30.1 |
| 19 | Wilkes-Barre Area School District | 29.8 |
| 20 | Brownsville Area School District | 29.7 |