Every December, The Census Bureau comes out with the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates for every state, county, and school district in the U.S. This post will summarize the trends for the new poverty estimates for 2023 for counties in the Alleghenies.
Allegheny County
The chart above shows the trend for the poverty estimates for the U.S. (light blue line), Pennsylvania(dark blue line), and Allegheny County (green line) for 1997 to 2023. We see that the rate for Allegheny County (11.6%) was slightly lower than the U.S. (12.9%) and Pennsylvania (11.9%) in 2023. Median Household Income for Allegheny County ($76,488) was higher than Pennsylvania’s ($73,826) but not the U.S. ($77,719).
Armstrong County
In Armstrong County, poverty estimates (11.9%) were virtually equal to Pennsylvania’s and to the U.S. However, median household incomes for Armstrong County ($61,521) were significantly below the U.S. and Pennsylvania.
Beaver County
In Beaver County, the poverty rate (10.4%) was significantly lower than the U.S. and Pennsylvania. Median Income ($66.846) was higher than Armstrong’s but still lower than the U.S. and Pennsylvania.
Blair County
Blair County’s poverty rate (14.4%) has risen steadily since 2020 (11.6%). It is now higher than Pennsylvania’s and the U.S. Median income in the county ($54,909) decreased in 2023 from $57,884 in 2022.
Butler County
Butler County’s poverty rate (9.3%) was lower than Beaver’s, Pennsylvania’s and the U.S. as a whole. Median income there ($80,978) was higher than the counties considered so far as well as the U.S. and Pennsylvania.
Cambria County
Cambria’s poverty rate (13.2%) decreased from 16.2% in 2022. It was still higher than Pennsylvania’s and the U.S. Median income for Cambria County ($55,592) was slightly above Blair county but below Pennsylvania and the U.S.
Centre County
Centre County (where Penn State is located) has a poverty rate of 17.1% which is significantly higher than the U.S. and Pennsylvania. The rate has steadily increased since 2020. The median income for Centre County ($69,999) provides a different picture. It is not significantly lower than the income levels for the U.S. ($77,719) and Pennsylvania ($73,826). This suggests skewing at the lower end of the income scale.
Fayette County
Fayette County has the highest poverty rate (18.9%) of the counties considered so far. It is consistently higher than the U.S. and Pennsylvania. Median income ($54,030) was also consistently lower than the U.S. and Pennsylvania.
I cannot review all of the new poverty estimates for 2023 for the Alleghenies. The 2023 numbers for the Alleghenies are summarized below. The counties are presented in the order of their poverty rate from highest to lowest. Forest County had the highest poverty rate (24.8%) and the lowest median income ($48,084) in Pennsylvania.
| Name | Poverty Percent %, All Ages | Median Household Income |
| United States | 12.5% | $77,719 |
| Pennsylvania | 11.9% | $73,826 |
| Forest County | 24.8% | $48,084 |
| Fayette County | 18.9% | $54,030 |
| Jefferson County | 18.8% | $49,430 |
| Centre County | 17.1% | $69,999 |
| Indiana County | 16.5% | $57,110 |
| McKean County | 15.9% | $59,522 |
| Greene County | 15.5% | $60,627 |
| Clearfield County | 15.4% | $60,213 |
| Cameron County | 15.3% | $51,035 |
| Blair County | 14.4% | $54,909 |
| Clarion County | 14.2% | $56,911 |
| Venango County | 13.8% | $57,256 |
| Lawrence County | 13.6% | $61,686 |
| Cambria County | 13.2% | $55,592 |
| Huntingdon County | 13.0% | $61,812 |
| Tioga County | 13.0% | $62,918 |
| Fulton County | 12.7% | $62,044 |
| Crawford County | 12.6% | $60,545 |
| Mercer County | 12.6% | $61,530 |
| Somerset County | 12.0% | $59,562 |
| Armstrong County | 11.9% | $61,521 |
| Allegheny County | 11.6% | $76,488 |
| Warren County | 11.4% | $57,469 |
| Bedford County | 11.2% | $58,319 |
| Westmoreland County | 10.8% | $70,985 |
| Beaver County | 10.4% | $66,846 |
| Elk County | 10.0% | $66,378 |
| Washington County | 9.5% | $76,957 |
| Butler County | 9.3% | $80,978 |
| Franklin County | 8.2% | $75,532 |