In Dec 2014, I posted the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates for the state of Pennsylvania for the year 2013. As I am now back in PA I thought I would take a look at the poverty estimates for counties and school districts here for the state to see how things may have changed. The most recent year available in 2014. The map above color codes the median incomes for each of the 67 counties in the state with higher income counties in darker green. Chester County has the highest median income at $85,613 while Fayette County has the lowest at $36,902. The national median income was $53637 and the median state income was $53,234 in 2014. Both increased by more that $1,000 since 2013.
Pennsylvania's poverty rate of 13.6% was below that national rate of 15.5%. Both rates decreased slightly from the 2013 rates. The county rates will be discussed below. The interactive data mapping tool can be seen here.
.
PA School District
|
total pop
|
# Students
|
# Poverty
|
% in Poverty
|
Poverty Rank
|
Duquesne
|
5,601
|
972
|
479
|
49.3
|
1
|
Clairton
|
6,830
|
886
|
427
|
48.2
|
2
|
Reading
|
88,529
|
18,186
|
8,734
|
48.0
|
3
|
Sto-Rox
|
12,547
|
1,886
|
884
|
46.9
|
4
|
Wilkinsburg
|
16,033
|
2,032
|
862
|
42.4
|
5
|
Salisbury-Elk Lick
|
2,910
|
494
|
207
|
41.9
|
6
|
Greater Johnstown
|
26,527
|
3,610
|
1,482
|
41.1
|
7
|
Harrisburg City
|
50,147
|
8,650
|
3,475
|
40.2
|
8
|
York City
|
44,385
|
8,293
|
3,254
|
39.2
|
9
|
Lebanon
|
26,806
|
4,793
|
1,740
|
36.3
|
10
|
The table above gives the school districts with the 10 highest student (age 5-17) poverty rates in 2014 out of 500 districts in the state. Four of the top five poorest school districts are near Pittsburgh with rates that are well above the poverty rate for Allegheny County (12.1% for age 5-17). These school districts have relatively small student populations which may make the estimates imprecise but there is plenty of other data suggesting economic difficulties. This discrepancy suggests great economic inequality in Allegheny county.
The Greater Johnstown School District had the seventh highest student poverty rate at 41.1% which is well above the county poverty rate for the county for this age group in Cambria County (where Johnstown is located) at 20.1% but the discrepancy between the district and county rates is not as high as it is in Allegheny county. The larger student population in Johnstown suggests that this estimate is more precise. The neighboring districts of Westmont has a rate of 10.6% while the other neighboring district has a rate of 17.9% which are below the county rate.
Below is a table showing the all ages poverty rate with their median income in the US, Pennsylvania, and each of the 67 counties in the state. There are 48 counties with median incomes below the national median of $53,657. The table below shows the ranking of the median incomes in order from lowest to highest with their respective poverty ranking in the far right column.
Cambria County (where I am now organizing for Bernie Sanders) ranks 58th in income and 18th overall in the poverty rate. The poverty rate is very close to the national rate with median income being $10,954 below the national rate. Investigating regional as well as local discrepancies in income and poverty highlights the need for reforms that Bernie Sanders proposes to address. You can use these numbers to study discrepancies in your area.
State / County Name
|
All Ages in Poverty (%)
|
Median Household Income ($)
|
County Median Income Rank
|
County Poverty Rank
|
United States
|
15.5
|
$53,657
|
||
Pennsylvania
|
13.6
|
$53,224
|
||
Fayette
|
20.2
|
$36,902
|
67
|
3
|
Forest
|
21.9
|
$37,794
|
66
|
2
|
Philadelphia
|
25.8
|
$39,037
|
65
|
1
|
Clearfield
|
16.5
|
$40,230
|
64
|
8
|
Cameron
|
14.2
|
$40,257
|
63
|
28
|
Potter
|
14.3
|
$40,323
|
62
|
27
|
Northumberland
|
15.9
|
$40,429
|
61
|
15
|
Mifflin
|
16.3
|
$40,957
|
60
|
11
|
Indiana
|
17
|
$42,611
|
59
|
6
|
Cambria
|
15.3
|
$42,703
|
58
|
18
|
Schuylkill
|
13.5
|
$43,169
|
57
|
33
|
Clarion
|
15.1
|
$43,202
|
56
|
19
|
Blair
|
15
|
$43,343
|
55
|
21
|
Mercer
|
14.6
|
$43,559
|
54
|
23
|
Venango
|
16.2
|
$43,810
|
53
|
13
|
Jefferson
|
13.3
|
$43,810
|
52
|
38
|
Crawford
|
14.9
|
$43,969
|
51
|
22
|
Sullivan
|
14.4
|
$44,191
|
50
|
24
|
Luzerne
|
15.8
|
$44,222
|
49
|
16
|
Clinton
|
17.4
|
$44,224
|
48
|
5
|
Armstrong
|
13.8
|
$44,326
|
47
|
31
|
Huntingdon
|
15.1
|
$44,531
|
46
|
20
|
Warren
|
14.1
|
$44,651
|
45
|
29
|
Mc Kean
|
16.6
|
$44,723
|
44
|
7
|
Lawrence
|
13.2
|
$44,903
|
43
|
40
|
Lackawanna
|
15.4
|
$45,098
|
42
|
17
|
Lycoming
|
16
|
$45,211
|
41
|
14
|
Erie
|
16.4
|
$45,476
|
40
|
10
|
Somerset
|
13.5
|
$45,706
|
39
|
34
|
Bedford
|
13.6
|
$46,890
|
38
|
32
|
Columbia
|
14.3
|
$46,938
|
37
|
26
|
Elk
|
10.5
|
$46,965
|
36
|
57
|
Bradford
|
12.9
|
$47,242
|
35
|
44
|
Tioga
|
16.3
|
$47,360
|
34
|
12
|
Union
|
13.4
|
$47,996
|
33
|
36
|
Fulton
|
13.3
|
$48,084
|
32
|
37
|
Wayne
|
13.9
|
$48,663
|
31
|
30
|
Juniata
|
12.3
|
$48,944
|
30
|
47
|
Snyder
|
13.1
|
$49,117
|
29
|
42
|
Carbon
|
13
|
$49,252
|
28
|
43
|
Susquehanna
|
12.8
|
$49,552
|
27
|
46
|
Greene
|
16.5
|
$49,897
|
26
|
9
|
Franklin
|
11.9
|
$50,434
|
25
|
48
|
Beaver
|
11.7
|
$51,041
|
24
|
49
|
Centre
|
17.9
|
$51,573
|
23
|
4
|
Allegheny
|
13.1
|
$52,385
|
22
|
41
|
Dauphin
|
13.4
|
$52,967
|
21
|
35
|
Westmoreland
|
10.1
|
$53,536
|
20
|
60
|
Lebanon
|
10.9
|
$53,861
|
19
|
52
|
Montour
|
11.2
|
$54,547
|
18
|
50
|
Perry
|
8.7
|
$54,920
|
17
|
64
|
Washington
|
10.7
|
$55,796
|
16
|
55
|
Wyoming
|
10.9
|
$55,882
|
15
|
53
|
Berks
|
14.3
|
$55,936
|
14
|
25
|
Lancaster
|
10.5
|
$57,369
|
13
|
58
|
Lehigh
|
12.8
|
$58,283
|
12
|
45
|
Pike
|
10.6
|
$58,375
|
11
|
56
|
York
|
10.2
|
$58,471
|
10
|
59
|
Monroe
|
13.3
|
$59,492
|
9
|
39
|
Adams
|
10.8
|
$60,179
|
8
|
54
|
Butler
|
8.9
|
$60,851
|
7
|
63
|
Northampton
|
10
|
$61,510
|
6
|
61
|
Cumberland
|
9.1
|
$62,692
|
5
|
62
|
Delaware
|
11
|
$62,867
|
4
|
51
|
Bucks
|
6.6
|
$77,823
|
3
|
67
|
Montgomery
|
7.1
|
$79,576
|
2
|
66
|
Chester
|
7.3
|
$85,613
|
1
|
65
|
Latino Rates in Pennsylvania's Uninsured
2013 Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates Are Out for School Districts and Counties in PA
