Michigan Census Snapshot
A MICHIGAN CENSUS SNAPSHOT: More feel pain of tight economy
BY MARISOL BELLO, SUZETTE HACKNEY, DAN CORTEZ and AMBER HUNT - FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
In a dramatic sign of its ailing economy, Michigan's household income dropped, more children joined the ranks of poor people and the number of people living below the poverty level jumped in the suburbs, according to census figures released Tuesday.
The figures show Michigan's median household income fell more than any other state's during the last six years. It was $46,039 in 2005 -- 12% less than what it was in 1999 when adjusted for inflation. None of the 28 counties and 21 municipalities for which data were reported showed a rise in median household income between 1999 and 2005, the estimates show.
The news was grim in other areas, too. In 2005:
- 19% of children in Michigan lived in poverty, up from six years ago.
- Almost a third of the state's African Americans lived below the poverty level.
- Detroit remained one of the poorest big cities in the country with almost a third of its residents living below the poverty line.
- Cities and townships posted drops in median household incomes ranging from 24% to 6% and poverty rates increased in all but three cities.
- Almost 72,000 people are unemployed in Detroit -- about 21% of its workforce. That's more than any Michigan city profiled in the latest census estimates.
SOURCE: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006608300319