According to the U.S. Census, 12.6% of people in the U.S. had incomes below the poverty line in 2022, so both Minnesota and Wisconsin have a lower proportion of their populations living in poverty.
Except for Burnett County, all the St. Croix River Valley counties had lower proportions of their populations living in poverty than their respective state averages.
Wisconsin counties in the St. Croix River Valley tend to have higher proportions of their populations with incomes below the poverty line than their Minnesota counterparts.
For Wisconsin and most of its St. Croix River Valley counties, the percentage of individuals living in poverty was flat to slightly increasing until 2014.
Since 2014, the percentage of individuals living in poverty has been trending downward in three out of five jurisdictions, except for Pierce and St. Croix counties – where it has been increasing slightly since 2020.
St. Croix County has consistently had a substantially lower and Pierce and Polk Counties slightly lower proportions of their populations living in poverty than Wisconsin as a whole.
While Burnett has consistently had a higher proportion of their residents living in poverty than the state average, that gap has been narrowing over time.
The proportion of people in Minnesota living in poverty has been essentially flat over the 2019 – 2022 period.
The percentages of individuals living in poverty in Chisago and Washington Counties have consistently been below the state average and has declined modestly over the 2013 – 2022 time period.