Ramsey County

Making $ense of Dollars and Cents

February 16, 2009

ND’s Poverty Rate Remains Stable

          The North Dakota State Data Center recently released info on the number of North Dakotans living in poverty in 2007.  While the percent has barely changed the total still creates concern.  An estimated 11.8 percent of North Dakotans were living in poverty in2007.  In 2006, the percent of poverty was 11.7.

          According to Richard Rathge, North Dakota State Data Center director, with the current estimated population of 641,481, this means that more than 75,000 people were impoverished in 2007.

          Poverty thresholds are updated annually by the U.S. Census Bureau and vary by family size and number of children. In 2007, the poverty threshold for one person was $10,590 and $21,027 for a family of four with two children under the age of 18.

          This month's "Population Bulletin," a monthly publication from the ND State Data Center, focuses on poverty estimates released from the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program through the U.S. Census Bureau. SAIPE provides annual estimates of the number and percentage of people and children living in poverty. These estimates are based on a sample of households.

          Due to the relatively small population base in North Dakota and the need to keep the costs of data collection manageable, the sample sizes for the state are relatively small, which does increase the likelihood of error.

Confidence intervals are calculated to account for this sampling error.

          Certain populations in North Dakota continue to struggle with higher than average poverty rates. Children have a greater likelihood of living in poverty than the general public. The percentage of North Dakota children ages 0 to 17 living in poverty was estimated at 14 percent in 2007. The percentage of children ages 0 to 4 living in poverty was 18.1 percent and the percentage of children ages 5 to 17 living in families below poverty was 11.7 percent.

          In addition, poverty rates in North Dakota were notably higher in Native American reservation areas, with Sioux, Benson and Rolette counties having more than one in four people living in poverty in 2007.

          Nationally, 13 percent were living in poverty in 2007. Of those people, 18 percent were children ages 0 to17 and 20.8 percent were ages 0 to 4.

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524 4th Ave NE #5, 2nd Floor Ramsey County Courthouse
Devils Lake  ND  58301
701-662-7027
email - NDSU.Ramsey.Extension@ndsu.edu