Culture
The Dramatically Uneven Spread of American Poverty
From one metropolitan area to the next.
Last week, the Census Bureau released updated statistics through 2012 showing that poverty and income rates in the United States have finally plateaued, a mixed assessment that means two things: Nationwide, poverty is no longer going up (and household income is no longer creeping down) as had been the case since the start of the recession. But both numbers remain as bad as they've been since the economy first began to tank, suggesting a particularly stingy recovery.
The national poverty rate is still sitting around 15 percent, representing some 48.8 million people (that's up from 33.3 million people back in 2000). And the median household income has bottomed out around $51,371, about 8 percent below what it was on the eve of the recession.