CHICAGO (AP) — New census figures show poverty rising in Illinois.
The U.S. Census Bureau figures were released Tuesday. They show increases in both the number and percentage of people living in poverty from 2008 to 2009.
Last year, 13.3 percent of Illinois residents had incomes below the poverty threshold, up 1 percentage point from 2008. Nearly 1.7 million Illinoisans were living in poverty in 2009.
Thirty other states saw similar increases. The census says a family of four making less than $22,000 a year is living in poverty.
Vermilion County in eastern Illinois had the highest poverty rate of the state's largest counties, with nearly 24 percent of residents in poverty.
The figures come from the American Community Survey, which is sent to about 3 million households each year.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
The U.S. Census Bureau figures were released Tuesday. They show increases in both the number and percentage of people living in poverty from 2008 to 2009.
Last year, 13.3 percent of Illinois residents had incomes below the poverty threshold, up 1 percentage point from 2008. Nearly 1.7 million Illinoisans were living in poverty in 2009.
Thirty other states saw similar increases. The census says a family of four making less than $22,000 a year is living in poverty.
Vermilion County in eastern Illinois had the highest poverty rate of the state's largest counties, with nearly 24 percent of residents in poverty.
The figures come from the American Community Survey, which is sent to about 3 million households each year.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
