Posted on 08/31/2005 4:29:40 AM PDT by mark502inf
Detroit has surpassed Cleveland as the nation's most impoverished big city, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
Survey figures released Tuesday show 33.6 percent - more than one-third - of Detroit's residents lived at or below the federal poverty line in 2004, the largest percentage of any U.S. city of 250,000 or more people.
The top five were Detroit; El Paso, Texas (28.8 percent); Miami (28.3 percent); Newark, N.J. (28.1 percent); and Atlanta (27.8 percent).
Detroit has lost about half its population since a half-century ago. It is now the country's 11th largest city with just over 900,000 residents.
Cleveland, which was No. 1 in 2003, dropped to No. 12 as the percentage of its residents living in poverty fell from 31.3 percent to 23.2 percent.
The poverty threshold differs by the size and makeup of a household. A family of four with two children was considered living in poverty if their income was $19,157 or less. For a family of two with no children, it was $12,649. It was $9,060 for a person 65 or over who was living alone.
Nearly half of Detroit's children under age 18 are impoverished, according to the survey. With 47.8 percent of its children living in poverty, Detroit trailed only Atlanta (48.1 percent) among the largest cities.
A message was left seeking comment from Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's office.
The nation's poverty rate rose to 12.7 percent of the population last year, the fourth consecutive annual increase, and the number of Americans who fell into poverty rose to 37 million - up 1.1 million from 2003.
The Michigan Democratic Party used the survey's release to encourage the Legislature to act on a recommendation from Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm to increase the state's hourly minimum wage to $7.15 from the current federal level of $5.15.
Nate Bailey, a spokesman for the Michigan Republican Party, said increases in the minimum wage would force employers to cut jobs, and that would lead to greater unemployment.
Michigan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7 percent in July, the highest among the nation's 50 states. The national rate was 5 percent.
"We're leading the country in unemployment, we're leading the country in jobs lost and now our largest city is last in personal income," Bailey said. "This is Jennifer Granholm's Michigan."
Detroit, The city where you can buy a house for a thousand bucks.
Oh, I'm sure that will work. Are they NUTS?
No fool like an old fool and a good reminder that a dem is a dem is a dem, no matter what they pretend.
Detroit has surpassed Cleveland as the nation's most impoverished big city!
Yep, all those one way bus tickets out of Cleveland worked!!!
I think New Orleans just overtook them this week....
The figures about Atlanta are misleading. When I left in 1998 the downtown core was virtually all Black and on welfare, but in 'ring' cities in subway distance, like Buckhead and Morningside, the income for all races was quite high.
Yep-- Granholm working her magic. And IL give darling DEM Obama a chance and he could do the same for you.
I shouldn't laugh....
As of two days ago, I would imagine New Orleans has to just about rank as the poorest.
How does Detroit compare to Paris?
The biggest problem Detroit has, is a poorness of spirit and morals. Fix that, and the economic problems will fix themselves.
I don't see it happening with any of their current so-called "leaders".
Typical. Liberal policies in the past shaped the city to be what it is today, and the liberal fix is to implement even MORE of the same failed policies.
My thoughts exactly.
Raise taxes...Raise Taxes on the Wealthy... Raise taxes on corporations. Give more money to everyone. (Democrat playbook #101)
Nah! The RATS just believe you can tax your way back into prosperity.
Maybe, but it took an act of God!
I think Detroit just lost the title. New Orleans now has that honor.
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