Poverty is stuck at record levels in America, and it's spreading in neighborhoods that are already blighted and impoverished, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution.
So-called concentrated poverty spurs high crime rates and can worsen health, schools, and housing conditions, according to Brookings. While poverty was once viewed as an urban problem, more and more of America's poor live in the suburbs.
The Brookings report analyzes the poverty levels in metro areas and their distressed neighborhoods, examining the change between 2000 and the period of 2008-2012, which includes an average from a five-year Census estimate and shows the effect of the recession.
Brookings looked at the change in poverty levels in neighborhoods described as distressed, where at least 40% of the population lives under the poverty line, and high-poverty, where at least 20% of the population is impoverished.
To get an idea of which U.S. cities have the fastest-growing rates of concentrated poverty, we ranked metro areas based on the change in poor population in tracts with poverty rates 20% or higher. We also included the change in poor population for the entire metro area. (Metro areas include both cities and their suburban outskirts.)
For the year 2013, the Census set the poverty level at $12,119 for a single person under the age of 65 and $24,028 for a family of four.
15. Salt Lake City, Utah
206% growth in poor population in tracts with poverty rates 20% or higher.
73% growth in poor population.
In Salt Lake City 19.4% of the residents live below the poverty level, compared to just over 12% for the entire state of Utah. In 2013, Brookings Institution fellow Elizabeth Kneebone told kuer.org the population of poor people in Salt Lake City's suburbs had doubled in an 11-year period.
Based on a Brookings report comparing 2008–2012 to 2000.
14. Atlanta, Georgia
213% growth in poor population in tracts with poverty rates 20% or higher.
90% growth in poor population.
Atlanta is known as the "capital of the new south" and viewed as an economic engine for the Southeast. However, the poverty rate in the city is shockingly high, with more than 24% of the people there living below the poverty line.
Based on a Brookings report comparing 2008–2012 to 2000.
13. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colorado
218% growth in poor population in tracts with poverty rates 20% or higher.
76% growth in poor population.
Nearly 19% of Denver's residents live below the poverty line, compared to about 13% of the state's residents. Like many metro areas on this list, Denver has experienced a surge of poverty in its suburbs in recent years.
Based on a Brookings report comparing 2008–2012 to 2000.
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