UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls

Poverty Indicators

Families with Children Under 18 Poverty Rates

children-poverty-2022

  • The U.S Census indicates that 14.1% of American families with children had incomes below the poverty line in 2019, so both Minnesota and Wisconsin are somewhat better than the national average.
  • All the counties in the St. Croix River Valley have lower proportions of their families with children living in poverty with the exception of Burnett County.
  • Burnett County has nearly twice the percentage of children living in poverty as the next highest St. Croix River Valley county (Polk County).
     

children-poverty-wi-2022

  • In most Wisconsin jurisdictions, the percentage of children living in poverty was increasing from 2010 to 2014 and has declined slowly since that time.
  • St. Croix County has consistently had much lower proportions of their children living in poverty than the Wisconsin average, Polk County has been slightly below the state average, and Pierce County is intermediary between these two counties.
  • Though Burnett County has had a much higher proportion of families with children living in poverty than the state average, the gap has narrowed over time.
     

children-poverty-mn-2022

  • While the percentage of children living in poverty in Minnesota has been trending slowly downward since 2014, there are no discernible trends in this statistic for Chisago and Washington Counties.
  • Compared to the Minnesota average, both Chisago and Washington County have had about half the proportion of their children living in poverty.
     

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