By the numbers: Poverty declines overall in the U.S.; Mississippi continues to lag far behind despite minor gains

Poverty in America continues to decline from its most recent highs during the Great Recession that began in 2008. Even in Mississippi, which remains the poorest state in the country, poverty statistics have fallen for nearly everyone.

Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau released its .report titled “Income and Poverty in the United States: 2018.” The annual report focuses strictly on nation-wide statistics, presenting the big picture, and it holds mostly good news about poverty in the U.S.

The best news is that poverty continued to decline last year as it has for the past four years. For the first time in 11 years, the official poverty rate was significantly lower than 2007, the year before the most recent recession. The official U.S. poverty rate in 2018 was 11.8 percent, down 0.5 percentage points from 2017. Since 2014, the poverty rate has fallen 3.0 percentage points, from 14.8 percent to 11.8 percent.

Poverty rates declined for nearly all demographic groups, including children, adults and minorities. The only group that saw an increase in poverty rates from 2017 to 2018 were people aged 25 and older without a high school diploma. Among this group, the poverty rate increased 1.4 percentage points, to 25.9 percent, but the number in poverty was not statistically different from 2017.

Mississippi continues to lag significantly behind the national averages regarding poverty. The state has made progress, nonetheless.

Talk Poverty, a project of the Center for American Progress, reports that in 2018, the poverty rate for adults in the Magnolia State was 19.8 percent, the highest rate in the U.S., but it declined 1 percent since 2017. For children, the rate is considerably higher: 26.7 percent, or more than one out over every four Mississippi children. The child poverty rate declined by 2.7 percent since 2017.

Poverty in the state is particularly high for Native Americans and African Americans. For Native Americans in particular, the poverty rate is nearly three times that for whites in the state, at 36.1 percent and 12.1 percent respectively. The rate for African Americans is 31.3 percent. The Native American rate declined 2.1 percent and by 1 percent for African Americans and whites since 2017.

Nationally in 2018, there were 38.1 million people in poverty, approximately 1.4 million fewer people than 2017.

In Mississippi, 571,219 were living in poverty in 2018, 31,549 fewer than in 2017.

In Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes Vicksburg, Warren County and the Delta region, 175,751 people were living in poverty last year, down from 184,328 in 2017. The district’s overall poverty rate in 2018 was more than twice the national average, at 26.2 percent.

Nonetheless, poverty rates here all seem to be headed in the right direction along with the rest of the country and the state: going down. The over all rate decreased by 0.9 percent from 2017. For children, it was 37.0 percent, down 2.5 percent.

The district was the fifth poorest in the nation in 2018, ranking 430 of 435. It lost ground nationally since 2017, when it ranked 428. Poverty for African Americans was 33.1 percent in 2018, more than three times that of whites at 11.0 percent. In 2017, the rate for African Americans was 34.5 percent, and whites 11.2 percent.

Read a summary of “Income and Poverty in America: 2018” from the U.S. Census Bureau and access the full report here.

Access Talk Poverty’s statistics on Mississippi and the state’s 2nd Congressional District here.