Here’s a piece of good news. There has been some progress on the poverty front in Detroit.
According to new U.S. Census data, the percentage of Detroiters living in poverty dropped by 4.1 percentage points from June 2015 to June 2016. The threshold for poverty for a family of four nationally is $24,563.
The poverty rate in Detroit fell from 39.8% in 2015 to 35.7% in 2016. The national poverty rate was 14% last year. In 2008, the percentage in poverty was 33.3%.
More progress with children: Poverty among children 18 years old and younger dropped 7% from the previous year.
Household income rising, outpacing nation: Detroit’s average household income rose $1,900, or 7.5%, from 2015 to 2016. The increase here was more than double that of the national median income (3.2%), and outpaced the state by four times.
Why this matters: Everyone agrees there’s a lot more work to do, but this is important progress in what is still a very poor city. It’ll be interesting to see if this continues over multiple years.
“This is a significant step forward, but just a first step. It appears our efforts toward attracting major job providers and training Detroiters for the growing number of available jobs are beginning to pay off.” – Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan