Florida Income Down, Poverty Up

September 14, 2011

After getting slammed by the economic recession, Floridians are grappling with lower incomes and a higher poverty rate, according to a U.S. Census report released Tuesday.

Florida had a median household income of $44,243 in 2010, down from $45,631 a year earlier. The drop is even greater when the 2009 figures are adjusted to reflect the effects of inflation.

The report also said Florida had a two-year average poverty rate of 15.3 percent when calculated for 2009 and 2010. That compares with a 12.8 percent rate for 2007 and 2008.

Florida also continued to have one of the highest uninsured rates in the country, with 24.6 percent of people under age 65 lacking health coverage and 20.8 percent for the entire population. Those percentages were lower than in 2009, though the Census Bureau changed the way it calculated health-insurance figures.

Along with the high uninsured rate, Florida also had a lower median household income and a higher poverty rate than the overall country. As examples, the national median household income in 2010 was $49,445, and the uninsured rate for the total population was 16.3 percent.

By The News Service Florida

Comments

6 Responses to “Florida Income Down, Poverty Up”

  1. 429SCJ on September 14th, 2011 10:09 am

    We are fortunate we have the United Nations, to maintain order in the world. If it were not for the U.N., America could turn into another Balkan dispute. I feel we are a few bank failures and layoffs, from some big changes. I hope whatever emerges from the comming struggle, is better than what we have now.

  2. 429SCJ on September 14th, 2011 9:19 am

    People if you want to see poverty, the shanty town off of I-75 near Tampa would shock, the likes of John Steinbeck and Doretha Lange. I wonder why we do not see it in the news?

  3. me on September 14th, 2011 7:28 am

    Income down…Proverty up……

    What should we do about this….I know, Lets raise the fire tax!!!

  4. click on September 14th, 2011 7:26 am

    I havn’t got a raise in 5 years and now that i pay into my retirement i make 3% less than the day i got hired. I work for the state of FL

  5. Kathy on September 14th, 2011 7:23 am

    RIGHT TO WORK STATE, right to starve state! Let the corporations keep big tax deductions for their corporate jets, they need them to get to India and China. Let big oil maintain big tax breaks they are only charging us $3.60 a gallon for gasoline. We middle class folks don’t need fair wages, we just need big corporations to keep all their money cause they may grace us with more low paying jobs. We don’t need no jobs bill we need the rich to get richer and us to continue getting poorer.

  6. Jane on September 14th, 2011 6:24 am

    It didn’t take a study to figure this out! The seniors haven’t had a raise in 3 years. Most of the people I know can’t find a job and many have just given up looking. This area has been this way for at least 30 years…when will the county commissioners wake up and try to get some industries in here??? The people who graduate from college/trade schools just go where the work is…not here!