Field Notes: The Census Data on Poor Counties

The U.S. Census Bureau released detailed information on poverty rates and income for 2014, The Pacific Standard takes a closer look at the richest and poorest counties in the country. The difference in median household income between counties was found to be over $100,000 in extreme cases. As in past years, the poorest counties are mostly located in southern states.

California had one of the highest rates of income inequality with a large population of wealthy households as well as record levels of poverty. Poverty rates continue to climb in 26 percent of the counties included in the survey while only 1 percent saw a decrease between 2007 and 2014. Poverty rates among school age children also show a huge gap between counties getting as low as 2.9 percent in Falls Church, Va. and as high as 58.1 percent in Perry County, Al.

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