America's Poor: Where Poverty Is Rising In America (CHART)

Thanks to the recession, 2009 was one of the worst years for poverty in America in more than half a century. The total number of Americans living in poverty hit 43.6 million, the highest level in 51 years and the national poverty rate rose to 14.3 percent from 13.2 percent, according to data released last month by the Census Bureau.

All told, one in seven Americans are living in poverty. To visualize America's startling rise in poverty, Mint, the personal finance site, put together this interactive chart of regional poverty rates.

Among the hardest-hit states are Louisiana, Mississippi and certain areas of Texas. States with the lowest poverty statistics include Wyoming, Hawaii, Minnesota and several East Coast states. ( Check out a list of the poorest states in America here .)

Though suburban areas are now home to one-third of America's poor, large cities have not been immune to the effects of the recession. Residents of cities like New York, Los Angeles and Miami have seen some of the biggest drops in personal income in the last year. (Check out a list of the 12 cities that saw their incomes plummet the fastest last year.)

Crippling poverty rates in many of America's hardest-hit regions have been accompanied by several other disturbing trends for the middle class. Income inequality hit an all-time high before the recession, according University of California, Berkeley, economist Emmanuel Saez. States, faced with an estimated budget shortfall of $380 billion for 2011, have started to cut crucial services and have laid off thousands of workers.

Growing layoffs last year caused millions of Americans to lose employee-provided health insurance, leaving 16.7 percent of Americans with no health insurance, the highest level since the Census started collecting the data in 1987.

As income levels have been ravaged in areas particularly tied to the housing boom, some have speculated that industries like construction may never return to their pre-crisis levels.

(For more surprising facts about America's shrinking middle class, click here.)

Comments

[KarateKid]

10:03 AM on 10/27/2010

The middle class is an endangered species. Throuout the course of history, that has had disastrous consequences.

[bottomdwellah]

04:26 PM on 10/22/2010

Four lousy comments? Where are all you pathetic O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck supporters? Holding up the nuts? Jocks strap on the gear, and play ball! Oddly emty this space devoted to allowing explanations as to why my new friend blessedweare should not have the new hip he needs to go back to work. Come on worms, rise up from under your rocks, and tell us how the poor deserve what they have, and why they should be so grateful for living here, in the greatest country on Earth, with nothing, while the wealthy wallow in luxury, not a care in the world except what kind of caviar they are having with tea this afternoon.

[Sighedeffects]

03:44 PM on 11/01/2010

They are all busy posting on the election articles about how much the President is "destroying America" and touting "family values."
To address the concerns of early retirement or life saving surgery would require outright callous comments or an ounce of "liberal compassion."
Wait until after the election, so they can tell our friend that needs a hip replacement that it is not their fault he cannot afford "the best medical care in the world" and elude to calling him "lazy" for not being wealthy.
Apparently, CEOs and bankers work much harder than manual laborers, and are wealthy because of it.
It takes a lot of diligence to be born into wealth and prosper from familial and business relationships.

[jsehgal]

12:31 AM on 11/05/2010

We are not looking.
We are not looking.

[blessedweare]

12:45 PM on 10/20/2010

The Federal income for one is $10,999aprox. Here in CA. I'm waiting for a hip replacement at 57. I,m Disabled. I guess you can say I worked myself to the bone. All I receive is less than $9,000. I can.t walk and have been turned away from food banks. What really scares me are the Dr.s practicing Medicine. They decide who live or die. If the poor are a burden on society well do I need to say any more. As it is I am already having to wait until Jan.2011 for my hip replacement and if the Lord is willing it will be done. I try to just keep reminding my self that our days are TRULY numbered by the Big Guy above. Peace.

[Sighedeffects]

03:46 PM on 11/01/2010

Btw, Blessedweare, good luck to you on your needed surgery and path to recovery. I hope all the best for you.

[mtntexas]

03:23 PM on 10/19/2010

Oh, wait... I forgot. CONGRESS, unlike millions of elderly and disabled Americans, got ( voted themselves') a raise this year. Thank God that THEY aren't suffering financially.

[mtntexas]

03:16 PM on 10/19/2010

Sure, we may have a lot of Americans who are out of work and living in poverty, but our illegal aliens are actually doing quite well and that evens things out.

[Sighedeffects]

03:38 PM on 11/01/2010

Which illegal aliens? The Russian ones? Maybe from the Ukraine. The Latino communities I see that are predominantly non-residents - well, I don't know what gauge that is "doing quite well" by - definitely quite well considered to Zimbabwe or Bangalore.

[Judith Martin]

02:48 PM on 10/19/2010

I have read Third World America. Missing in the discussion is the effects that the greying of the Baby Boom Generation will have on everything else: More people laid off or having to retire early,and needing to find jobs to make a bit more money to make ends meet.

Already, Baby Boomers who have been laid off have been looking for jobs, sometimes for years (as I have since 2007), and finally given up searching altogether. It is no secret that employers are hiring "whiz kids" right out of college, and disregarding 50-somethings and older altogether.

What is going to happen when Boomers hit the Medicare wall at age 65? Boomers are going to give up looking for work as their failure level increases, and they will be going on Social Security to try to get back some of their money before that system collapses, too. Pessimism among Boomers is riding very high, and they believe justifiably so.

Closing Thoughts: The Baby Boom generation was touted to be the best-fed, best-educated generation the world had ever seen. Now that our role as cute kiddies is over, we have the sneaking suspicion that most of the non-Boomer population of this planet would be very happy if we would simply disappear and stop being a drain on resources that could be better used by others.

[Sighedeffects]

03:36 PM on 11/01/2010

Could someone please tell me which companies are hiring straight out of college? (I am constantly told there are many more candidates with 'practical experience' - and from what I see, willing to work for considerably less.)

[AmyInNH]

08:55 AM on 12/13/2010

Avaya, Cisco, Google, Microsoft, BAE, Dell, Children's Hospital, Winter Wyman, Big Business Solutions, CyberCoders, Gomez, Fidelity, TripAdvisor, Lockheed, etc. Take a walk through Monster or Indeed.com and screen for 4 years college/0 years experience.