Poverty Quick Facts

Fall 2011

Poverty

The new state-level Census data is out, and as expected, the picture is not pretty.

Here's the quick scoop:

17.5% of North Carolinians are in poverty
25% of children in NC are poor
Broken down by race: 27.7% of African-Americans; 31.2% of Native Americans and 33.9% of Hispanics in this state are poor
13.1% of families are on food stamps, up from 11% in 2009
Median household income dropped to $43,326 in 2010, from $44,467 in 2009

The Census Bureau will continue to release more data on smaller areas. Please check back for updates.

Unemployment

Unemployment in North Carolina remains persistently high and has crept up slightly over the past few months. Job losses in the public sector have outweighed small gains in private hiring.

Underemployment, which measures workers that have stopped looking for a job and part-time workers who want a full-time job, is also high--stalling out at around 17% for the past two years.

The labor force participation rate (all people classified as employed or unemployed) has dropped dramatically in the past four years. This means that many people have simply stopped looking for work.

Child Hunger

In 2009-2010, North Carolina ranked 11th in the nation for households with children who experience food hardship. Almost 30% of households with children struggled with food insecurity.

Winston-Salem was the metropolitan area with the highest rate of food insecurity among households with children in the US (34.8% of households with children). Greensboro-High Point was 17th with 28.4%.

For more information, visit the Food Research and Action Center website.