The U.S. Census Bureau concluded that in 2013, median household income in Montgomery County was $42,776 compared to $42,524 in 2013. The report showed that median household income in the county was lower than the state average of $48,081 and the national average of $52,250.
By contrast, the report shows that median household income last year in Greene County was $59,872, a substantial increase from the $52,544 in 2012. Bordering Clark County saw an increase of more than $4,000 going from $39,178 in 2012 to $43,742 last year.
Median household income is regarded as a solid barometer of wage growth among Americans. It serves as the dividing line between two equal groups, with half of a geographic area above the line and other half below it.
Butler and Warren counties saw increases of less than $1,000 each. Butler’s median income is $55,958 and Warren’s is $73,432.
In a separate report, the Census said that the number of people in Ohio living in poverty dipped by 27,000 last year from 1.824 million in 2012 to 1.797 million.
“The poverty rate is slightly lower but it is unfortunately not a statistically significant change,” said Hannah Halbert, an analyst in the Columbus office of Policy Matters of Ohio, a progressive non-profit organization.
“Ohio is stuck,” she said. “The state’s recovery has been excruciatingly slow and even slower for those in poverty.”
The federal poverty rate for a family of four is $23,850 a year. According to the report, Ohio’s poverty rate is 16 percent, which is roughly the same as poverty rates in the Midwest, but substantially lower than poverty rates in southern states such as Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Mississippi.
Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director for the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, said “what we find most alarming is that these data indicate that one-third of Ohioans live in households at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. For a family of three, that’s less than $39,580 a year.”
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