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USDA Report: Poverty Decreases for Some Nonmetro Counties [1]
['Kristi Eaton', 'The Daily Yonder']
Date: 2023-12-25
The latest “Rural America at a Glance” report – an annual reference document issued by the USDA Economic Research Service – shows that persistent poverty is decreasing in some rural areas, but experts cautioned that the changes may not be lasting.
An analysis of annual county-level poverty rate estimates for 2007 through 2021 indicates that the majority (86%) of all nonmetropolitan counties experienced a decreased amount of poverty over the 15-year period.
At the end of 2021, there were 318 (combined metro and nonmetro) persistent poverty counties, compared with 353 for the period ending in 2011. Overall, there were 282 counties that remained persistently poor from one period to the next, 36 counties that entered into persistent poverty status, and 70 counties that left persistent poverty status.
Persistent poverty is defined as 20% or more of the population having poverty-level household incomes in each of the last four decennial Census years.
The report stated that nonmetro counties that entered into persistent poverty status were largely characterized by having a Hispanic population. Counties that re-entered persistent poverty status after previously leaving were often seen within historically poor areas, including central Appalachia.
Ann Tickamyer, professor emerita of Rural Sociology and Demography at Penn State University, said it’s good that there has been a reduction in persistent poverty counties, but she added that caution is necessary when interpreting the statistics.
For the most part, renewable energy jobs in rural America weathered the storm of the Covid-19 pandemic pretty well. Despite seeing some employment drops in solar and corn ethanol employment at the height of the pandemic, both categories managed to bounce back. Wind energy jobs held steady throughout with some increases in 2021. (Source: Rural America at a Glance 2023)
“Ironically, persistent poverty status is a high bar to achieve, requiring at least a 20% poverty rate in multiple consecutive Census years,” she told the Daily Yonder. “Small changes in either direction can make a major difference for the bottom line statistics.”
She said rural workers might have disproportionately been deemed essential workers during the Covid lockdown period and therefore remained employed. She cited meat packing employees as one example.
“Any decrease in poverty is to be celebrated, and policies that are measurably effective should be continued and expanded, but again, caution needs to be taken to avoid over-interpreting short-term changes,” Tickamyer said.
Housing problems are consistently higher among rural renters across all income levels. According to the USDA, housing insecurity includes high housing costs, poor housing quality, housing shortages, overcrowding, lack of safety in the home and neighborhood, and homelessness. According to the report, “the threat of housing insecurity is particularly high for rural households with low income and historically underserved racial/ethnic population groups.” (Source: Rural America at a Glance 2023)
She said it’s also important to address other inequities such as housing insecurity, food and health care deserts, low education levels and disparities across regions and population groups.
She also added that some of the poorest rural areas have become amenity destinations, attractive locations targeted for tourism, second homes, and retirement.
The report noted that more than half of extremely low-income nonmetro renter households experienced housing insecurity. “The threat of housing insecurity is particularly high for rural households with low income and historically underserved racial/ethnic population groups,” the report said.
Tickamyer said such amenity destinations often leave the original residents struggling to remain at the location because of cost of living increases, which creates outmigration of low- and middle-income workers. The departure of these lower-income residents would deflate the poverty rate, she said.
Tony Pipa, senior fellow at the Center for Sustainable Development at the Brookings Institution, said he believes there’s not enough attention paid to the housing insecurity issues at the rural level.
“The housing crunch is well-documented and really elevated by the media in urban areas,” he told the Daily Yonder. “I think there is not enough attention to the housing crisis that’s really happening in rural places. And I think that’s actually presumed or assumed that it’s not as acute when it certainly is.”
He said the high-amenity counties seeing an influx of people – as noted in the report – may be causing housing shortages.
“My instinct is that it’s creating pressure on the markets there in ways that are really making it difficult, especially for lower income people who are living in those places,” he said, adding that Montana is one example of a rural state experiencing housing pressures.
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[1] Url:
https://dailyyonder.com/usda-report-poverty-decreases-for-some-nonmetro-counties/2023/12/25/
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