My third post on the new Small Area Income Estimates (SAIPE) focuses on the poorest school districts in Pennsylvania. This is expressed as a percentage of their student bodies who meet the federal definition of poverty. When summarizing the top 20 poorest school districts in PA, 14 of the 20 are in the Alleghenies. The list of the top 20 (out of 500 school districts in PA) is in the table below.
Eight of the top 20 (or 40%) offer prekindergarten services. Statewide, 86 out of the 500 (or 17.6%) districts offer these services. Five of the 8 districts in the Alleghenies offer these services. This could be due to head start services being more prevalent in poor districts.
The Duquesne City School District had the highest rate in 2024 with an estimated 46.9% meeting the federal definition of poverty. The Greater Johnstown SD had the second highest rate at 45.3%. With the highest rate of homelessness in the state, Sto-Rox had the 8th highest poverty rate at 35.5%.
For all 3 districts on the economically disadvantaged scale, Sto-Rox has a rate of 97.6%, Greater Johnstown has a rate of 97.3% and Duquesne has a rate of 88.7%. Economically disadvantaged is defined as having an income level below 185% of the federal poverty level.
These last 3 posts underscore the need for better measures of poverty. The federal definition has not been updated since the 60’s. At least the old measures are applied consistently so meaningful patterns across counties and school districts can be identified. This allows me to find that 14 of the 20 poorest school districts in PA are in the Alleghenies.
| Name | Alleghenies | Grades | Total Population | Relevant Ages 5 to 17 | Relevant Ages 5 to 17 in Families in Poverty | Relevant Ages 5 to 17 Poverty Ratio % |
| Duquesne City School District | Y | PK-12 | 5,175 | 909 | 426 | 46.9 |
| Greater Johnstown School District | Y | KG-12 | 23,965 | 3,612 | 1,637 | 45.3 |
| Clairton City School District | Y | KG-12 | 6,088 | 863 | 371 | 43 |
| New Castle Area School District | Y | PK-12 | 22,426 | 3,376 | 1,276 | 37.8 |
| Harrisburg City School District | N | KG-12 | 51,258 | 9,040 | 3,291 | 36.4 |
| Reading School District | N | KG-12 | 97,389 | 18,949 | 6,827 | 36 |
| Chester-Upland School District | N | PK-12 | 40,308 | 7,082 | 2,542 | 35.9 |
| Sto-Rox School District | Y | KG-12 | 12,161 | 2,022 | 717 | 35.5 |
| York City School District | N | PK-12 | 46,253 | 8,402 | 2,970 | 35.3 |
| Farrell Area School District | Y | PK-12 | 4,733 | 680 | 236 | 34.7 |
| Monessen City School District | Y | KG-12 | 6,804 | 865 | 283 | 32.7 |
| New Kensington-Arnold School District | Y | PK-12 | 16,764 | 2,279 | 745 | 32.7 |
| Ferndale Area School District | Y | KG-12 | 4,392 | 675 | 217 | 32.1 |
| Jeannette City School District | Y | KG-12 | 8,688 | 1,159 | 366 | 31.6 |
| Steelton-Highspire School District | Y | KG-12 | 9,212 | 1,761 | 554 | 31.5 |
| Erie City School District | N | PK-12 | 93,737 | 14,066 | 4,346 | 30.9 |
| Washington School District | Y | KG-12 | 15,107 | 1,805 | 557 | 30.9 |
| Harmony Area School District | Y | KG-12 | 2,136 | 361 | 110 | 30.5 |
| McKeesport Area School District | Y | KG-12 | 28,213 | 3,986 | 1,217 | 30.5 |
| Shenandoah Valley School District | N | PK-12 | 7,101 | 1,219 | 372 | 30.5 |