Even as Recession Hits Other States Harder, Mississippi Remains the Poorest in Nation

Once again, Mississippi has the highest poverty rate and the lowest household income in the nation.

Once again, Mississippi has the nation’s highest rate of poverty and the lowest average income. MPB’s Cari Gervin took a look at the Census data and filed this report.

Unsurprisingly, the recession hit household income last year. Nationally, the average income dropped 3.6 percent in 2008, to just over $50,000.

Although Mississippi’s average median income stayed statistically the same, that number – just over $37,000 – is the lowest in the country. That’s over $30,000 less than New Hampshire, the state with the highest household income.

The income isn’t adjusted for cost-of-living – of course, $37,000 will go a lot further in Mississippi than in New Hampshire. But the new Census data shows the state’s poverty rate of 20.5 percent hasn’t significantly changed either.

And at 3.5 percentage points higher than Louisiana, the second poorest state – that number is a big deal, according to the Census Bureau’s Chuck Nelson.

“So that’s a very significant finding – the fact that, that one-fifth of the inhabitants of the state are living in poverty when, you know, poverty thresholds are actually fairly low. So that means one-fifth of the state is living where your equivalent income is, is under $22,000 for a family of four.”

“Mississippi is a dead seal!”

That’s Representative Reecy Dickson. She’s the Chair of the Mississippi Legislature’s Select Committee on Poverty. She says that realistically, the poverty rate in Mississippi won’t change anytime soon.

“And unless we are able to revise that, by reducing teen pregnancy, increasing work opportunities, increasing educational opportunities, it’s going to be very difficult to turn Mississippi around.”

Dickson says one thing the legislature can do is restructure a number of state agencies that handle social services for low-income families, so that all the programs are in one place.

For MPB News, I’m Cari Gervin.