92%

Working Poverty Poor 3% 5% Douglas County Poverty Report 2009

PREPARED BY THE DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMUNITY PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT Page 1 of 11 Table of contents

PAGE Douglas County poverty quick facts 3 Poverty issue definitions 4 Rankings 5 Ratio of income to poverty level 6 Comparisons of ratio of income to poverty level 7

Characteristics of the population under the poverty level 8

Poverty thresholds 11

PREPARED BY THE DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMUNITY PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT Page 2 of 11 Douglas County poverty quick facts

SUMMARY FACTS

Poverty rate in Douglas County in 2009 3.2%

Total number of people with incomes below the poverty level in 2009 9,292

Poverty rate for children under 18 years old 3.2%

Poverty rate for seniors aged 65 and over 2.8%

Poverty rate for married-couple families 1.6%

Total number of working poor (between 1.0x and 2.0x poverty level) 14,513

This is a report on the poverty conditions in Douglas County in the year 2009. The majority of the report is developed from data in the 2009 American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS is a year-long survey conducted each year by the US Census Bureau. Data from the 2009 ACS was released in September 2010. Poverty conditions in Douglas County in the year 2010 will not be released until September 2011.

PREPARED BY THE DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMUNITY PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT Page 3 of 11 Poverty issue definitions

What is the definition of poverty? Severe poverty or severe poor: The population below 50 percent of poverty. This refers to people or households Following the Office of Management and Budget’s where the income is less than half the official threshold. (OMB’s) Directive 14, the Census Bureau's Poverty Definition uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to detect who is How are the "working poor" defined? poor. If a family’s total income is less than the family’s threshold, then that family, and every individual in it, is The Census Bureau does not use the term "working considered poor. poor." The "working poor" may mean different things to different data users, based on the question they are The terms "poor," "poverty population," and "below trying to answer: the poverty level" have been used interchangeably in previous Census Bureau reports. In recent reports, the People who worked, but were poor under the official term "poor" has been avoided for its somewhat definition of poverty. subjective connotation. People who were in poverty and had at least one working family member. What does "ratio of income to poverty" mean? People who may not necessarily be "in poverty" The ratio of income to poverty is a family's or person's according to the official measure of poverty, but who fall income divided by their poverty threshold. Some Census below some percentage of the poverty level (for instance, Bureau tables show counts of people or families, 200 percent of the poverty). categorized by how their income compares with their poverty threshold.

Income-to-poverty ratio categories represent variations of the poverty level. Frequently-used ratios include:

Ratios below 1.00 (below 100 percent of poverty) are below the official poverty definition, while ratios of 1.00 or greater (100 percent of poverty or greater) indicate income above the poverty level.

Ratios below 0.50 (50 percent of poverty, that is, income less than half of the poverty threshold) have sometimes been described as "severe poverty", while those with ratios at/or above 1.00 percent by less than 1.25 percent have been described as "near poverty".

What is the definition of "near poor" and "severe poverty"?

Although there is no official definition for these terms, some Census Bureau reports use the following concepts:

Near poverty or near poor: The population above poverty, but below 125 percent of poverty. This refers to people or households where the income is slightly above the poverty threshold.

SOURCE: US CENSUS BUREAU PREPARED BY THE DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMUNITY PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT Page 4 of 11 Rankings

These values are taken from the 2009 American Community Survey. The shares are all calculated values from data in the ACS. Rankings were established by sorting the data for the 805 counties covered by the ACS. Shaded cells are where Douglas County ranks in the top ten counties in the Nation.

RANKINGS WHERE #1 IS LOWEST IN THE NATION VALUE RANK

Total population; Income below poverty level; Share of total population 3.2% #2

Population under 18 years; Income below poverty level; Share of population under 18 years 3.2% #6 Population 18 to 64 years; Income below poverty level; Share of population 18 to 64 years 3.3% #9 Population 65 years and over; Income below poverty level; Share of population 65 years & over 2.8% #14

Income below poverty level; Households 3.7% #3 Income below poverty level; Family households 2.6% #8 Income below poverty level; Family households; Married-couple family 1.6% #27 Income below poverty level; Family households; Other family 10.9% #22 Income below poverty level; Family households; Other family; Male householder, no wife present 0.0% #1 Income below poverty level; Family households; Other family; Female householder, no husband present 14.7% #34 Income below poverty level; Nonfamily households 7.6% #7 Income below poverty level; Nonfamily households; Male householder 6.6% #26 Income below poverty level; Nonfamily households; Female householder 8.6% #11

Family households; Income below poverty level; Owner-occupied; Share of own-occ fam hshlds 1.3% #26 Family households; Income below poverty level; Renter-occupied; Share of rent-occ fam hshlds 12.5% #47

Total population; Income between 1.00 and 1.99 times poverty level; Share of total population 5.0% #1 Total population; Income below 2.00 times poverty level; Share of total population 8.3% #1

Worked full time, year-round / 16 years and over / poverty rate 0.32% #14 Worked part-time or part-year / 16 years and over / poverty rate 6.05% #23 Did not work / 16 years and over / poverty rate 7.93% #11

PREPARED BY THE DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMUNITY PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT Page 5 of 11 Ratio of income to poverty level

In Douglas County a total of 3.2% of the population had SHARE OF POPULATION IN DOUGLAS COUNTY incomes below the poverty level in 2009. Another 5.0% had incomes above the poverty level but less than 2.00 3% times the poverty level. Altogether, there were 23,805 people with incomes less than 2.00 times the poverty level, representing 8.3% of the County population. 2%

SHARE UNDER 2.00 TIMES POVERTY LEVEL 2% < 1.00 < 2.00 1990 CENSUS 3.2% 9.3%

2000 CENSUS 2.1% 6.5% 1% 2005 ACS 2.9% 8.4% 2006 ACS 1.9% 6.4% 2007 ACS 1.8% 8.5% 1% 2008 ACS 4.0% 10.6% 2009 ACS 3.2% 8.3% Source: US Census Bureau 0% Under .50 to .75 to 1.00 to 1.25 to 1.50 to 1.75 to 1.85 to .50 .74 .99 1.24 1.49 1.74 1.84 1.99 The 2009 ACS showed a lower share of population in Douglas County with incomes below the poverty level 1990 CENSUS 2000 CENSUS 2005 ACS 2006 ACS 2007 ACS 2008 ACS and below 2.00 times the poverty level than in 2008. 2009 ACS

In 2009 there were more people with incomes less than Source: US Census Bureau half the poverty level than the total below 2.00 times the POPULATION UNDER 2.00 TIMES POVERTY LEVEL poverty level in the 1990 Census. From the 2000 < 0.5 < 1.00 < 1.50 < 2.00 Census to the 2009 ACS the population of Douglas 1990 CENSUS 845 1,895 3,333 5,593 County increased 64%. In that same time frame, the 2000 CENSUS 1,380 3,706 7,029 11,409 population with income below half the poverty level grew 2005 ACS 3,908 7,112 12,227 20,870 306% and the number of people with incomes below the 2006 ACS 3,267 4,867 9,675 16,850 poverty level went up 151%. The total amount of people 2007 ACS 2,448 4,944 11,355 23,034 with incomes less than 2.00 times the poverty level 2008 ACS 6,098 11,222 19,713 29,609 increased by 109%. 2009 ACS 5,600 9,292 13,948 23,805 2000-09 CHG 4,220 5,586 6,919 12,396 The estimated number of people with incomes less than 2000-09 % CHG 305.8% 150.7% 98.4% 108.7% the poverty level decreased 29% in just one year, from Source: US Census Bureau the 2008 ACS to the 2009 ACS. POPULATION UNDER POVERTY LEVEL The 2009 poverty threshold for a family of four, including 11,222 two children under 18 years of age was $21,756, which 12,000 9,292 is the gross income for a one wage earner family making 10,000

$10.46 per hour. An income of 2.00 times the poverty 8,000 7,112 level would be $43,512. People with incomes above the 6,000 4,867 4,944 3,706 poverty level but less than 2.00 times the poverty level 4,000 are often considered to be financially at-risk and are 1,895 2,000 sometimes called the "working poor". In the case above, 0 a 25% allocation of gross income to rent would yield 1990 2000 2005 ACS 2006 ACS 2007 ACS 2008 ACS 2009 ACS $907. However, the average rent for a two bedroom CENSUS CENSUS apartment with one bath in 2009 went from $940 in the first quarter to $1,012 in the fourth quarter. Source: US Census Bureau

PREPARED BY THE DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMUNITY PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT Page 6 of 11 Comparisons of ratio of income to poverty level

Where Douglas County was shown to have 3.2% of the 2009 METRO AREA COUNTIES population with incomes less than the poverty level in 2009, the Nation had 14.3% below poverty and the State 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% of Colorado had 12.9%. Likewise, the shares of population with incomes less than 2.00 times the poverty Under .50 level were much higher at the National and State levels with 32.7% and 29.0% respectively, compared to the .50 to .74 8.3% in Douglas County.

NATIONAL AND STATE COMPARISON .75 to .99

7% 1.00 to 1.24 6.3%

6% 5.9% 1.25 to 1.49

5% 4.7% 4.5% 4.5%

4.3% 1.50 to 1.74 4.0% 3.9% 4% 3.8% 3.7% 3.5% 3.5% 1.75 to 1.84 3% 2.6% 2.4% 2.0% 1.9% 1.9% 1.85 to 1.99 2% 1.4% 1.0% 0.9% 0.8% 0.8%

1% 0.8% ADAMS ARAPAHOE BOULDER DENVER DOUGLAS JEFFERSON 0.5%

Source: US Census Bureau 0% Under .50 to .75 to 1.00 to 1.25 to 1.50 to 1.75 to 1.85 to .50 .74 .99 1.24 1.49 1.74 1.84 1.99 Douglas County was also much lower than any of the

NATION STATE DOUGLAS other counties in the Denver Metro Area in both shares below the poverty level and shares below 2.00 times the Source: US Census Bureau poverty level. Denver County posted the highest shares SHARE UNDER 2.00 TIMES POVERTY LEVEL below the poverty level at 19.1%, as well as the highest < 1.00 < 2.00 share of population with incomes less than 2.00 times NATION 14.3% 32.7% the poverty level with 37.7%. STATE 12.9% 29.0% ADAMS 13.8% 34.1% ARAPAHOE 12.8% 28.6% BOULDER 13.9% 28.3% DENVER 19.1% 37.7% DOUGLAS 3.2% 8.3% JEFFERSON 8.2% 19.9% Source: US Census Bureau

Douglas County ranked #2 in the Nation, among 805 counties with a population of 65,000 or more, for its low 3.2% share of the population with incomes less than the poverty level. Likewise, the County ranked #1 in the Nation for its low 5.0% share of its population with incomes between 1.00 and 2.00 times the poverty level.

PREPARED BY THE DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMUNITY PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT Page 7 of 11 Characteristics of the population under the poverty level

Children make up 29% of the population with incomes Nonfamily households make up 44% of all households less than the poverty level in Douglas County. Seniors with incomes less than the poverty level while 56% are comprise 6% of the population with incomes below the family households. Married couple families comprise poverty level. The majority of the people with incomes 29% of the households with incomes less than the less than the poverty level are between the ages of 18 poverty level. and 64 years, with a 65% share of the total.

POPULATION UNDER THE POVERTY LEVEL INCOME BELOW POVERTY BY HOUSEHOLD TYPE

75 and over MARRIED- 2% COUPLE FAMILY NONFAMILY 29.2% 65 to 74 Under 5 yrs 43.8% 55 to 64 4% 4% 10% 5 to 17 45 to 54 25% 10% OTHER FAMILY 27.0%

35 to 44 18 to 24 18% 25 to 34 17% Source: US Census Bureau 10% Households with incomes less than the poverty level are Source: US Census Bureau found most frequently in family households where a POVERTY SHARES AND RATES female is the householder. In 2009 that rate was 14.7%. BELOW POV The least frequent incidence is among married-couple POV SHARE TOTAL RATE families at a 1.6% rate. Under 5 yrs 361 3.9% 22,785 1.6% 5 to 17 2,358 25.4% 61,836 3.8% POVERTY RATES BY HOUSEHOLD TYPE 18 to 24 1,534 16.5% 19,333 7.9% BELOW TOTAL POV 25 to 34 930 10.0% 31,786 2.9% POV HSHLDS RATE 35 to 44 1,687 18.2% 55,795 3.0% Family households: 2,007 75,858 2.6% 45 to 54 913 9.8% 47,719 1.9% Married-couple family: 1,042 67,024 1.6% 55 to 64 952 10.2% 29,314 3.2% Other family: 965 8,834 10.9% 65 to 74 365 3.9% 12,897 2.8% Male householder 0 2,267 0.0% 75 and over 192 2.1% 6,760 2.8% Female householder 965 6,567 14.7% ALL 9,292 288,225 3.2% Nonfamily households: 1,567 20,607 7.6% Source: US Census Bureau Male householder 678 10,211 6.6% Altogether, 3.2% of the population in the County under Female householder 889 10,396 8.6% 18 years of age had incomes less than the poverty level. Source: US Census Bureau That low share gave Douglas County a #6 ranking in the Douglas County ranks #8 in the Nation for its low share Nation among 805 counties with a population of 65,000 of family households with incomes below the poverty or more in 2009. For those between the ages of 18 and level and similarly ranks #7 in the Nation for nonfamily 64 the rate was 3.3% for a #9 ranking in the Nation. The households. population aged 65 and over posted a 2.8% incidence of incomes less than the poverty level. Douglas County ranked #14 in the Nation for its low share of seniors with incomes less than the poverty level.

PREPARED BY THE DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMUNITY PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT Page 8 of 11 Characteristics of the population under the poverty level (continued)

Looking only at those people that are 25 years old and A further look at those people aged 16 years and over over who have incomes below the poverty level, the 2009 whose incomes were less than the poverty level shows ACS shows only 2% are less than a high school that only 348 worked full-time during the entire year of graduate. A total of 78% have attended college or 2009. A total of 3,385 worked part-time or a part of the completed some college degree. year in 2009 and 3,563 did not work at all during the year. EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT FOR 25+ YRS WORK EXPERIENCE FOR 16+ YEARS Worked full time, year- High school Less than high round graduate, GED, school graduate 5% or alternative 2% Bachelor's 20% degree or higher Did not work 42% 49% Worked part- time or part- year Some college or 46% associate's degree 36%

Source: US Census Bureau Source: US Census Bureau WORK EXPERIENCE FOR 16+ YEARS EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT FOR 25+ YEARS Worked full time, year-round 348 Less than high school graduate 109 Worked part-time or part-year 3,385 High school graduate, GED, or alternative 1,012 Did not work 3,563 Some college or associate's degree 1,835 Total 7,296 Bachelor's degree or higher 2,083 Source: US Census Bureau Total 5,039 Source: US Census Bureau Only 605 of the 3,574 households with incomes below the poverty level received food stamps/SNAP during There were 7,296 people aged 16 years and over whose 2009. The vast majority, 1,132 households that received incomes were less than the poverty level. Of those, food stamps had incomes above the poverty level. 4,348, or 60%, were in the labor force and 2,948, or 40% were not in the labor force. The unemployment rate FOOD STAMP/SNAP DISTRIBUTION among those whose incomes were less than the poverty Total households 96,465 level was 44%. Received Food Stamps/SNAP 1,737 1.8% Did not receive Food Stamps/SNAP 94,728 98.2% LABOR FORCE AND UNEMPLOYMENT In labor force: 4,348 59.6% Received Food Stamps/SNAP 1,737 Employed 2,448 56.3% Income below poverty level 605 34.8% Unemployed 1,900 43.7% Income at or above poverty level 1,132 65.2% Not in labor force 2,948 40.4% Total 7,296 Did not receive Food Stamps/SNAP 94,728 Source: US Census Bureau Income below poverty level 2,969 3.1% Income at or above poverty level 91,759 96.9% Source: US Census Bureau

PREPARED BY THE DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMUNITY PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT Page 9 of 11 Characteristics of the population under the poverty level (continued)

Of family households whose incomes are below the poverty level, 43% own their home while 57% live in rental housing.

FAMILY HOUSEHOLDS BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL

Owner occupied 43% Renter occupied 57%

Source: US Census Bureau Married-couple families with incomes less than the poverty level have a much larger share, at 61%, for home ownership than all families combined. Rental households make up 39% of married-couple families with incomes lower than the poverty level.

TENURE OF MARRIED COUPLE FAMILIES

Renter occupied 39% Owner occupied 61%

Source: US Census Bureau TENURE FOR FAMILIES BELOW POVERTY LEVEL BELOW ALL POV FAMILIES RATE All families: 2,007 75,858 2.6% Owner occupied 859 66,671 1.3% Renter occupied 1,148 9,187 12.5% Married-couple family: 1,042 67,024 1.6% Owner occupied 640 60,972 1.0% Renter occupied 402 6,052 6.6% Other families: 965 8,834 10.9% Owner occupied 219 5,699 3.8% Renter occupied 746 3,135 23.8% Male householder: 0 2,267 0.0% Owner occupied 0 1,424 0.0% Renter occupied 0 843 0.0% Female householder: 965 6,567 14.7% Owner occupied 219 4,275 5.1% Renter occupied 746 2,292 32.5% Source: US Census Bureau

PREPARED BY THE DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMUNITY PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT Page 10 of 11 Poverty thresholds

Poverty Thresholds for 2009 by Size of Family and Number of Related Children Under 18 Years

Related children under 18 years Size of family unit Weighted average Eight thresholds None One Two Three Four Five Six Seven or more One person (unrelated individual).... 10,956 Under 65 years...... 11,161 11,161 65 years and over...... 10,289 10,289

Two people...... 13,991 Householder under 65 years...... 14,439 14,366 14,787 Householder 65 years and over...... 12,982 12,968 14,731

Three people...... 17,098 16,781 17,268 17,285 Four people...... 21,954 22,128 22,490 21,756 21,832 Five people...... 25,991 26,686 27,074 26,245 25,603 25,211 Six people...... 29,405 30,693 30,815 30,180 29,571 28,666 28,130 Seven people...... 33,372 35,316 35,537 34,777 34,247 33,260 32,108 30,845 Eight people...... 37,252 39,498 39,847 39,130 38,501 37,610 36,478 35,300 35,000 Nine people or more...... 44,366 47,514 47,744 47,109 46,576 45,701 44,497 43,408 43,138 41,476

Note: The poverty thresholds are updated each year using the change in the average annual Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). Since the average annual CPI-U for 2009 was lower than the average annual CPI-U for 2008, poverty thresholds for 2009 are slightly lower than the corresponding thresholds for 2008. Source: U.S. Census Bureau

PREPARED BY THE DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMUNITY PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT poverty 11/4/2010 Page 11 of 11