States Ranking by Percentage in Poverty & the 2008 Election

Below is the ranking of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia by the percentage of their population living in poverty. The ranking was done by the United States Census Bureau. If you look at the top ten states, two of them went for Obama and the other eight went for McCain. Conversely if you look at the bottom ten, you will find that nine of those states went for Obama, while only one went for McCain. Ohio, by the way, ranks 21, with 13.3% of its population living in poverty.

1
Mississippi
21.1
2
District of Columbia
19.6
3
Louisiana
19
4
New Mexico
18.5
5
Arkansas
17.3
5
West Virginia
17.3
7
Kentucky
17
7
Oklahoma
17
9
Texas
16.9
10
Alabama
16.6
11
Tennessee
16.2
12
South Carolina
15.7
13
Georgia
14.7
13
North Carolina
14.7
15
Arizona
14.2
15
New York
14.2
17
Missouri
13.6
17
Montana
13.6
17
South Dakota
13.6
20
Michigan
13.5
United States
13.3
21
Ohio
13.3
21
Oregon
13.3
23
California
13.1
24
Maine
12.9
25
Indiana
12.7
26
Florida
12.6
26
Idaho
12.6
28
Kansas
12.4
29
Illinois
12.3
30
Pennsylvania
12.1
31
Colorado
12
32
Washington
11.8
33
Nebraska
11.5
34
North Dakota
11.4
35
Delaware
11.1
35
Rhode Island
11.1
37
Iowa
11
37
Wisconsin
11
39
Alaska
10.9
40
Utah
10.6
41
Nevada
10.3
41
Vermont
10.3
43
Massachusetts
9.9
44
Minnesota
9.8
45
Virginia
9.6
46
Wyoming
9.4
47
Hawaii
9.3
48
New Jersey
8.7
49
Connecticut
8.3
50
New Hampshire
8
51
Maryland
7.8

Poverty Increasing in Medina County

The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran a very interesting story about how poverty is increasing in Medina County. Medina County is one of the fastest growing counties in Ohio and its median income is about $20,000 higher than the median income for the metropolitan area as a whole, but, as the article points out, it is not immune from increasing poverty. This is shown by the increase in foreclosure cases, by the increase in students using the free lunch programs, and by increases in social service applications. This is a very interesting story and one that everyone in Medina County should read. You can read it by clicking on the link in this entry's title.