WV AMONG HIGHEST IN POVERTY CONCENTRATION

(07/21/2005)

One in three West Virginians live in areas where there is "gross poverty," with their neighbors falling below the poverty line. WV has the fifth-highest rate in the country, according to a new US Census report. The poverty level is based on a sliding scale depending on a family's size. In 1999, the poverty threshold was about $8,500 in annual income for an individual under 65 years old, or about $13,400 dollars for a family of four. The study of 1999 census tracts, described as small statistical subdivisions of counties averaging about four-thousand inhabitants, - found that 33.8% percent of West Virginia residents lived in these so-called "poverty areas." The District of Columbia, Louisiana, Mississippi and New Mexico had higher concentration rates. The states with the lowest concentrations of poverty were New Hampshire, Vermont and Iowa.

Hur Herald ®from Sunny Cal The information on these pages, to the extent the law allows, remains the exclusive property of Bob Weaver and Dianne Weaver The Hur Herald. All information may be freely used but must not be sold or used in any type of commercial endeavor, or used on any web site without the express permission of the owners ©Bob and Dianne Weaver, The Hur Herald, 1999, 2000, 2001