Facebook Twitter Email
NOVEMBER 24, 2000

The Census Bureau of Wednesday released its latest estimates on poverty rates in the nation, showing that reservations continue to be among the poorest.

The data is based on 1997 poverty estimates for over 3,000 counties. They accompany figures the Census released in September, which showed a decrease in poverty nationwide.

But for many of the nation's reservations, little has changed. The poorest counties in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, for instance, all fall within the Navajo Nation, the largest in the country.

In Arizona, Apache ranked as the poorest county in the state, with 39.7 percent living in poverty. In Apache, poverty has changed little from 1995, when 39.4 percent lived in poverty.

The statewide poverty rate, meanwhile, fell from 16.3 percent in 1995 to 15.5 percent in 1997.

In South Dakota, the situation is similar. The poorest county there, Ziebach, with 46.4 percent living in poverty, is located within the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. The next poorest, Todd (46.1 percent), and Shannon (42.9 percent), are located within the Rosebud Sioux and Pine Ridge Reservations, respectively.

Census data for counties, as always, must be taken into caution when attempting to account for reservation poverty. Even if a county falls entirely within a reservation, the Census doesn't differentiate among Indians or non-Indians, giving no direct indication on Indian poverty.

But the rates reflect data the Census released in September. Although poverty in the nation is at its lowest in 20 years, an average of about 26 percent of Native Americans lived in poverty from 1997 to 1999, twice the nationwide rate of about 13 percent.

The poverty rate for a family of four in 1997 was $16,400.

Get the data for your state:
Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates Tables for States and Counties by Income Year and Statistic (The Census Bureau. November 2000)

Related Stories:
Census reports on uninsured Natives (The Talking Circle 10/02)
Census: Native Americans among poorest (The Talking Circle 9/27)
National, state poverty data (The Talking Circle 9/27)
Most reservations miss Census target (The Talking Circle 09/20)
Tribal response rates: 1990-2000 (The Talking Circle 9/20)
Report: Native buying power increases (Money Matters 9/8)
Native purchasing power by state (Money Matters 9/8)
Native population on the rise (The Talking Circle 08/31)
Census data by state (The Talking Circle 08/31)
Reservations respond to Census (The Talking Circle 4/20)

Relevant Links:
The US Census - www.census.gov