County poverty rate down in decade

New census figures show Culpeper County’s poverty rate declined in the past decade and is now below the state average.

However, about the same number of Culpeper residents lived in poverty in 1998 as in 2008, based on federal income standards.

According to census figures released Wednesday, the county’s median income grew 43 percent during that same time period. Concurrently, Culpeper County’s population jumped 42 percent — from 32,600 in 1998 to 46,203 last year.

The census determines poverty based on income thresholds. Per the 2008 figures, a family of four with an annual income of $22,025 or less is considered below the poverty line.

In 2008, the U.S. Census reported, 8.1 percent (or 3,612 people) were classified as living in poverty in Culpeper County. That’s compared to 10.5 percent (3,441 people) in 1998 — higher than the statewide poverty level that year of 10.2 percent.

It should be noted that among Culpeper’s overall population there was a greater percentage of children living in poverty in 2008 — 11.1 percent or 1,230 individuals younger than 18.

“That does not surprise me a bit,” said Jack Garber, director of the Piedmont United Way in Culpeper. “It would seem to me we probably have more. I can tell you we are seeing a lot of folks who are right on the edge.”

Calls to the United Way’s “First Call for Help” line have doubled in the past year, as more folks call for assistance with making the rent or paying the utility bill, Garber said.

“I know people are hurting out there, just scraping by,” he said. “We are seeing people that we have not seen before — people that have lost jobs and are stretched about as far as they can go.”

And yet the 2008 median family income for Culpeper County was $63,248 last year compared to $44,174 in 1998.

Lisa Peacock, director of the Culpeper County Department of Social Services, said with Culpeper County’s tremendous growth in recent years came an influx of commuters from Northern Virginia who brought with them higher incomes, impacting the county’s median income. The 2007 per capita income for Culpeper was much lower, however: $32,703.

Peacock said per capita income provided “a broad measure of economic well being.“

“While our poverty levels may have decreased, I think we have many families who are not ‘poor’ according to the federal measurement of poverty, but their incomes are inadequate to cover the bare necessities,“ she said.

Wages are low and hours are few, Peacock added, noting that DSS has seen double the number of people since this time last year—many of them people who have never before sought social services.

The state of Virginia’s overall poverty rate in 2008 was 10.2 percent, representing 766,852 people, the recent census figures showed. The median family income in Virginia was $61,210.

Michael Cassidy, director of the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis — a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank based in Richmond — said the state’s poverty level has “stubbornly” remained around 10 percent for the past 20 years.

“We have not made any real progress in reducing poverty,” he said. “It just sort of hovers.”

While upper earners have seen wage increases, Cassidy said, by and large, the lower and middle classes have not. Add to that declines in “safety net” benefits like health insurance, and the poverty picture remains the same in Virginia.

When broken down by race, 18.5 percent of Virginia’s black populations lives in poverty, while the numbers for Latinos (13.6 percent) and white (7.3 percent) are lower. According to Cassidy, number-wise, whites represent the majority of people living in poverty in Virginia.

Cassidy said the census figures on poverty were accurate, and he expects to see them rise for 2009.

“Last year saw a significant up-tick in unemployment, but the bulk of that happened this year,” he said, “So we will see even more significant increases in poverty due to the depth of the recession.”

Breakdown by localities
Here’s a look at 2008 poverty figures and incomes for area counties:

- Fauquier County — 6.1 percent (4,048 people) in poverty; median income of $81,359

- Madison County — 10.7 percent (1,434 people) in poverty; median income of $52,472

- Orange County — 8.2 percent (2,677 people) in poverty; median income of $52,158

- Rappahannock County — 8.2 percent (581 people) in poverty; median income of $60,614.

According to the U.S. Census, the city of Harrisonburg led the state for poverty in 2008 at 28.8 percent, representing 10,607 people. The city of Radford had a 26.7 percent poverty level, and in Richmond, 25.1 percent were living in poverty, or 47,850 people. It should be noted, however, that all three cities have significant populations of college students, which can skew the numbers.

Loudoun County had the lowest poverty rate in the state last year at 3.1 percent, representing 9,033 people. The city of Falls Church was at 3.1 percent as well, accounting for 344 residents.

Poverty in Virginia: 2008

Statewide 10.2%
Madison 10.7%
Culpeper 8.1%
Orange 8.2%
Rappahannock 8.2%
Fauquier 6.1%
Harrisonburg* 28.8%
Loudoun* 3.1%

* Highest and lowest in state

Source: U.S. Census