Philadelphia had the highest poverty rate of all the big cities in the United States in 2016. According to Shared Prosperity, “28% of Philadelphians – between 430,000 and 440,000 people – live below the federal poverty level, including 39% (135,000) of children, 27% (250,000) of work-age adults and 17% (32,000) of seniors. This reflects a sharp increase from Philly’s 1960 low of 15.4% and a divergence from the national trend of slowly decreasing poverty (aside from the increase related to The Great Recession).
Year | Poverty Rate (Philly) | Poverty Rate (US) |
1960 | 18.8% | 22.2% |
1970 | 15.4% | 12.6% |
1980 | 20.6% | 13% |
1990 | 20.3% | 13.5% |
2000 | 22.9% | 11.3% |
2010 | 26.7% | 15.1% |
2014 | 26.7% | 13.5% |
Source: Us Census Bureau
Continue reading “Mapping Poverty Over Time in Philadelphia”