Poverty Status

% of people living below the federal poverty level

Loading Data

Peer regions were chosen for their comparable size and composition. These same regions have been used for comparison in multiple other studies and reports.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2014 1-Year Estimates and 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

The jurisdictions in the CRC-footprint include: the City of Richmond, the Town of Ashland, and the Counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, and Powhatan.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
*Includes the Town of Ashland

Why It's Important

The poverty rate is the ratio of the number of people whose income falls below the poverty line. According to the 2017 federal poverty guidelines, the poverty level for an individual is $12,060. People living in poverty often lack access to basic life skills, social networks, safe neighborhoods as well as basic food, shelter, and clothes. Additionally, tracking poverty provides a worthwhile way of looking at Social Stability in a region.