Editor’s note: It’s unclear from the report how many Indiana University students are counted in the poverty statistics. We’ve seen reports like this before, and they are certainly the subject of debate. What is clear, however, is students make up a lot of the city’s population, and many of them don’t have a lot of disposable income. But not every student is poor, either, some drive Ferraris. But, the reason we are here, is the statistics of many students’ low incomes are stark enough to make the city appear as the poorest in the state. Students aside, Bloomington is already known as a place where high-paying jobs are relatively difficult to find, and where housing is very expensive as a proportion of what a low-wage job can support. There are unanswered questions, but these statistics tell a story as well.
Staff report
Indianapolis, Ind. — July 27, 2023
Indiana has been named the 16th poorest state in the nation, with Bloomington standing out as the poorest city within the state, according to a recent report from Insider Monkey, a finance website based in New Jersey specializing in tracking hedge funds and corporate insiders.
The report, “25 Poorest States in America,” published by Insider Monkey, analyzed poverty rates and education levels in each state using data from the 2021 U.S. Census Bureau reports. Indiana’s ranking as the 16th poorest state was determined by an estimated 10.8% poverty rate among the state’s population in 2021, a slight improvement from the 11.2% recorded in 2020. The median household income for Indiana in 2021 was estimated at $62,000.
In terms of educational attainment, the report revealed that 18.5% of Indiana’s population over 25 years old held bachelor’s degrees, while 38.2% of individuals aged 18 to 24 had completed some college education.
However, the report brought into focus the city of Bloomington, designating it as the poorest city in Indiana, facing a poverty rate of 34.3%. Notably, the report also ranked Bloomington among the poorest cities in the entire country.
The study further identified New Mexico as the poorest state in the U.S., with a poverty level of 16.7%. In New Mexico, approximately 16% of the population aged over 25 held bachelor’s degrees, and only 35.7% of individuals aged 18 to 24 had some college education.
Additionally, West Virginia and Louisiana secured the second and third positions, respectively, on the list of poorest states. The report also highlighted West Virginia as the least educated state in the nation, with just 14.2% of the population over 25 years old holding bachelor’s degrees.
Source:
Census report:
https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2022/demo/p60-277.pdf
Another perspective:
