Skip to main content

Most SoCal Counties Fall Below State's Average Poverty Rate

Support Provided By
People wait in line outside of St. Francis Center for the opening of the soup kitchen on September 13, 2011 in Los Angeles | Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
People wait in line outside of St. Francis Center for the opening of the soup kitchen on September 13, 2011 in Los Angeles | Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Census numbers published today reveal that the number of Californians living in poverty has increased substantially since 2000. Sacramento Bee's numbers maven Dan Walters calculated thatpoverty has grown three times as fast as the population, which went up 10 percent in the last decade:

In 2000, 4.3 million Californians were living in poverty but by 2010, the number had increased to 5.8 million, a 34.3 percent jump that reflected the serious recession that has gripped the state in recent years. The state's overall rate climbed from 12.7 percent in 2000 to 15.8 percent in 2010.

Two of the ten most impoverished counties are in Southern California: Kern (21.4 percent) and Imperial (22.3 percent), the latter which topped the list in 2000, but was replaced by Fresno (26.8 percent) in 2010. (Imperial has the highest unemployment rate in the state at an atypical 28.9 percent while Fresno sits at 15.7 percent, the fourth highest, according to October numbers)

Other counties in the region that fell below the state's overall rate include San Bernardino (18.1 percent), Santa Barbara (17.7 percent), Los Angeles (17.6 percent) and Riverside (16.4 percent).

Counties bucking the state average include San Diego (14.8 percent), Orange (12.2 percent) and San Luis Obispo (14.3 percent). Ventura (11 percent) placed in the list of top ten counties with the lowest rate. The county at the top of that list is San Mateo (7 percent).

Below is a map of the top ten counties on both ends of the spectrum. Counties with the lowest rates of poverty are in blue, the highest rates in red. Note the clusters at the state's northern border, Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley and Eastern California.

View Poverty in California in a larger map

Support Provided By
Read More
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.