The poverty rate in Orange County edged down last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday.
About 263,000 county residents, 8.9 percent of the total population, lived below the federal poverty line in 2007. That’s down from 9.7 percent in 2006.
The county poverty rate in 2007 was significantly below the state and national rates, 12.4 percent and 12.9 percent respectively.
However, federal poverty thresholds don’t take high local housing costs into account. The nationwide poverty threshold last year was $21,027 for a family of four.
A local advocacy group, Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development, argues that a more realistic measure of distress for the county is 200 percent of the poverty level. By that measure, 737,000 people, nearly a quarter of the population, are in economic trouble.
More than half of the county’s poor, 143,000 people, are Hispanics.
The poor also are concentrated in central county. While the poverty rate is just 1.8 percent in Yorba Linda and 3.7 percent in Newport Beach, it is 17.1 percent in Santa Ana, 12.5 percent in Anaheim and 9.4 percent in Garden Grove.
Poor education proved to be a ticket to poverty. Of the 332,000 Orange County adults without a high school diploma, 17.5 percent were poor.
Related links:
- Three O.C. cities rank near top in U.S. income
- Nation, state got bigger raises in ‘07 than O.C.
- O.C. unemployment rate highest in 13 years
- O.C. home prices see worst drop in 32 years
- Local consumer prices see biggest jump in 17 years
- Auto sales drop 8% in July
- 1 parent, 2 kids need $66,966 salary to afford O.C.
I am sorry to say that I believe that many of the Hispanics living in poverty are illegal, and although they are living in poverty by U.S. standards, they are likely living exponentially better than they would be living if they were in Mexico.
it is because 3 mexicans deported themselves.
May be they live in poverty just because they do not want to work…