This report discusses demographic and

socioeconomic characteristics of census

tracts using data collected in Census

2000, as categorized by the census

tract’s poverty rate.1 Analyses of small

geographic areas require data from the

decennial census long form or, in the

future, data from the American

Community Survey.

For this report, census tracts were

grouped into four categories based on

their poverty rates and described as follows: Category I (0.0 percent to 

12.3 percent), Category II (12.4 percent,

the national poverty rate, to 19.9 percent), Category III (20.0 percent to 

39.9 percent), and Category IV (40.0 percent or more).2 In previous census publications, and also in this report, tracts

with a poverty rate of 20 percent or

more are referred to as “poverty areas.”

(See text box “How Poverty is Defined.”)

Based on data collected from the Census

2000 long form, the poverty rate in the

United States for all people in 1999 was

12.4 percent.3 However, poverty rate estimates varied by region (from 10.2 percent

in the Midwest to 13.9 percent in the

South) and by state (from 6.5 percent in

New Hampshire to over 19 percent in

Louisiana, Mississippi, and the District of

Columbia). Even larger variations were

observed when comparing poverty rates

among counties, places, and other substate areas. Further details are available in

the Census 2000 Brief, Poverty: 1999

[C2KBR-19].

In 1999, most people, 81.5 percent,

lived in tracts with less than 20 percent

in poverty (Categories I and II combined)

(see Table 1). The percentage in this category increased from 1989 when 78.2

percent lived outside poverty areas.4

This increase is echoed at the other end

of the distribution: 2.8 percent lived in

tracts with poverty rates of 40 percent or

more in 1999 (Category IV), a reduction

from the 1989 estimate of 4.6 percent.

Geographic Distribution

In 1999, about 62 percent of the country’s population lived in tracts with

poverty rates lower than the national

U S C E N S U S B U R E A U

Helping You Make Informed Decisions

U.S.Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Issued July 2005

CENSR-16

Areas With Concentrated 

Poverty: 1999

Census 2000 Special Reports

By 

Alemayehu Bishaw

1 This report discusses estimates for the United

States, including the 50 states and the District of

Columbia. Estimates for the Commonwealth of

Puerto Rico are shown in Table 1 and are discussed

only briefly. The estimates in this report (which may

be shown in text, figures, and tables) are based on

responses from a sample of the population and may

differ from actual values because of sampling variability or other factors. As a result, apparent differences between the estimates for two or more groups

may not be statistically significant. All comparative

statements have undergone statistical testing and

are significant at the 90-percent confidence level

unless otherwise noted. 2 The categories used in this report are based on

the ones used in the 1990 Census Statistical Brief,

Poverty Areas. The 1990 brief used three categories,

less than 20 percent, 20 percent to 40 percent, and

40 percent or more. This report, while adopting all

three categories, further divides tracts with a 

less-than-20-percent poverty rate into two categories

using the national poverty rate as the reference point.

3 The most recent official estimate of poverty in

the United States, for 2003, was 12.5 percent, and

the official estimate for 1999 was 11.8 percent. The

official poverty, employment, and unemployment

statistics for the country come from the Current

Population Survey (CPS). Because the CPS asks more

extensive questions about income than the census,

respondents tend to report more completely. These

higher reported incomes lead to lower official

poverty rates. For more information go to

<www.bls.census.gov/cps/cpsmain.htm>. 4 According to the 1990 census, the poverty rate

in the United States for all people was 13.1 percent

in 1989.
2 U.S. Census Bureau

rate of 12.4 percent (Category I),

while 2.8 percent lived in Category

IV tracts, with poverty rates of

40.0 percent or more (see Table 1).

Regionally, 87.8 percent of people

residing in the Midwest lived in

tracts with poverty rates under 

20 percent. The proportions in the

Northeast, the West, and the South

were 83.2 percent, 79.8 percent,

and 77.8 percent, respectively. On

the other hand, 3.4 percent of the

The current official poverty measure has two

components—poverty thresholds (income cutoffs)

and the definition of family income that is compared to these thresholds, as specified by the

Office of Management and Budget. More specifically, 48 thresholds are arranged in a two-dimensional

matrix consisting of family size (from one person

to nine or more) cross-classified by presence and

number of family members under 18 years old

(from no children present to eight or more children

present). Unrelated individuals and two-person

families are differentiated by the age of the reference person (under 65 years old and 65 and older).

These thresholds are revised annually to allow for

changes in the cost of living as reflected in the

Consumer Price Index. The poverty thresholds are

not adjusted for regional, state, or local variation in

the cost of living.

To determine whether someone is in poverty, their

total family income is compared with the poverty

threshold appropriate for that person’s family size

and composition. If the total income of the family is

less than the threshold, then the person and every

member of the family is considered to be in poverty.

Census 2000 was only able to identify families

based on the relationship to the householder. If a

person is not related to the householder; or the person is a householder who is not related to anyone in

the household by birth, marriage, or adoption; or

the person does not live in a household, then the

person’s own income is compared with his or her

poverty threshold. The total number of people

below the poverty level is the sum of people in families and the number of unrelated individuals with

incomes below the poverty thresholds. 

Census 2000 asked people about their income in the

previous calendar year. Thus, poverty estimates in

this report compare family income in 1999 to the

corresponding 1999 poverty thresholds. The dollar

amount of these thresholds is listed in Table 2.

Poverty estimates based on Census 2000 differ

from those based on the Current Population

Survey’s (CPS) Annual Social and Economic

Supplement (ASEC) in several ways. First, the ASEC

is able to identify families that are not related to

the householder and treat them as separate units

for determination of poverty status. Second, the

ASEC asks more extensive questions than Census

2000 about various sources of income, helping

respondents include more of their incomes from

the previous calendar year. Third, ASEC data are

collected by experienced interviewers who are

trained about how to discuss and explain complex

topics like income. In contrast, the Census 2000

long-form data were primarily collected with mailback paper questionnaires.

The data on poverty status were derived from

Census 2000 long-form questionnaire items 1 and 2

on the number of people in the household and each

person’s relationship to the householder, and items

31 and 32, which provide information on the amount

of income people received from various sources.

The poverty rate used to classify tracts is based on

calculations for people in the “poverty universe.”

The poverty universe, when using data from Census

2000, includes all U.S. residents except the institutionalized population, people in military group quarters and college dormitories, and unrelated individuals under 15 years of age. Subfamilies cannot be

identified separately in Census 2000.

This report describes characteristics of all people

living in the 65,004 census tracts with at least one

household within its boundaries. These tracts comprised 99.95 percent of the total population of the

United States counted during Census 2000.

How Poverty is Defined
U.S. Census Bureau 3

Table 1.

Distribution of People in Census Tracts by Poverty Levels: 1999

(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, refer to

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

State

Number Percent

All

census

tracts

Poverty levels of census tracts

Category I

[0.00–12.39%]

Category II

[12.40–19.99%]

Category III

[20.00–39.99%]

Category IV

[40.00% or more]

 United States................................... 281,283,909 62.4 19.1 15.6 2.8

Regions

Northeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,554,708 69.2 14.0 13.4 3.4

Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64,376,475 73.7 14.1 10.0 2.1

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100,194,782 53.8 24.0 19.1 3.1

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63,157,944 58.9 20.9 17.6 2.6

States

Alabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,447,100 42.0 31.8 21.9 4.3

Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626,932 78.9 12.9 8.2 0.0

Arizona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,130,347 55.8 19.8 20.3 4.1

Arkansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,673,400 36.4 39.9 21.5 2.2

California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,843,203 54.7 20.4 21.5 3.5

Colorado . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,292,018 73.1 17.0 9.3 0.6

Connecticut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,404,544 82.4 7.1 9.2 1.3

Delaware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783,600 76.9 16.3 4.6 2.2

District of Columbia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572,059 29.3 28.7 30.4 11.5

Florida . . . ...................................... 15,981,054 61.9 21.4 14.4 2.3

Georgia . . . ..................................... 8,183,033 58.9 20.6 17.4 3.1

Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,211,537 68.6 18.7 12.1 0.7

Idaho . . . ....................................... 1,293,953 58.8 34.5 5.8 0.8

Illinois . . . ...................................... 12,418,780 72.2 12.9 12.1 2.8

Indiana . . . ..................................... 6,073,668 76.2 13.8 8.3 1.6

Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,926,324 80.6 14.4 4.1 1.0

Kansas . . . ..................................... 2,688,418 72.9 17.4 8.5 1.2

Kentucky . . . .................................... 4,041,769 45.4 24.3 27.9 2.3

Louisiana . . . ................................... 4,468,919 33.2 25.1 34.1 7.6

Maine . . . ...................................... 1,274,923 63.5 28.9 7.1 0.4

Maryland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,280,161 79.2 12.1 7.1 1.7

Massachusetts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,346,106 76.2 11.1 11.3 1.4

Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,934,431 73.3 12.4 11.8 2.5

Minnesota . . . ................................... 4,917,469 82.9 10.3 5.3 1.4

Mississippi . . . .................................. 2,844,658 27.2 31.1 36.2 5.5

Missouri . . . .................................... 5,593,356 62.7 22.0 13.5 1.8

Montana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 902,195 49.4 29.7 18.9 2.1

Nebraska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,711,024 74.3 17.6 7.4 0.7

Nevada . . . ..................................... 1,998,257 66.2 22.8 10.9 0.2

New Hampshire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,235,786 90.5 7.5 1.1 0.8

New Jersey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,414,333 79.4 10.1 8.8 1.7

New Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,819,046 33.2 29.8 32.5 4.5

New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,944,153 57.1 17.2 19.8 6.0

North Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,049,313 60.3 25.1 13.3 1.2

North Dakota . . . ................................. 642,200 63.1 26.2 9.8 0.9

Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,352,286 71.2 14.8 11.5 2.4

Oklahoma . . . ................................... 3,450,586 43.3 32.0 22.9 1.8

Oregon . . . ..................................... 3,421,399 61.2 28.2 9.8 0.8

Pennsylvania . . . ................................. 12,277,717 71.6 14.4 11.0 3.0

Rhode Island . . . ................................. 1,048,319 68.3 10.9 17.8 3.0

South Carolina . . . ............................... 4,004,615 50.4 28.5 19.3 1.8

South Dakota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754,844 61.7 24.3 10.0 4.0

Tennessee . . . .................................. 5,689,051 53.4 28.8 15.3 2.5

Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,838,754 49.1 22.7 23.7 4.5

Utah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,232,602 77.6 11.4 8.8 2.2

Vermont . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608,827 78.1 17.5 3.8 0.6

Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,078,366 73.6 16.7 8.3 1.4

Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,892,673 69.0 20.0 10.0 1.1

West Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,808,344 25.4 40.8 32.1 1.7

Wisconsin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,363,675 83.0 8.3 6.4 2.3

Wyoming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493,782 67.6 24.6 7.1 0.7

Puerto Rico . . . .................................. 3,806,566 1.4 4.3 21.7 72.6

Details may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.
4 U.S. Census Bureau

population in the Northeast lived

in tracts with poverty rates of 

40 percent or more, followed by

3.1 percent in the South, 2.6 percent in the West, and 2.1 percent

in the Midwest.5

Of the total 51.9 million people

who lived in poverty areas (with

rates of 20 percent or more), 

42.9 percent resided in the South,

a region with 35.6 percent of the

total population (see Figure 1). 

In 13 states (Alaska, Connecticut,

Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland,

Massachusetts, Minnesota, New

Hampshire, New Jersey, Utah,

Vermont, and Wisconsin), threefourths or more of the population

lived in census tracts with poverty

rates lower than 12.4 percent (the

national poverty rate) (see Table 1). 

In 16 states and the District of

Columbia, 20 percent or more of

the population lived in poverty

areas (see Figure 2). Louisiana,

Mississippi, and the District of

Columbia had the largest proportions of people living in these

areas of any states (approximately

40 percent).

Given the geographic size and

number of census tracts in the

United States, it is not feasible to

include a national tract-based map

in this report. The District of

Columbia is used as an example,

since it has an economically diversified population residing in different sections of the city and is

small enough in land area for the

census tract boundaries to be distinguishable. Figure 3 presents a

map of the District of Columbia

that demonstrates how poverty

rates vary by tract within a city.

The map shows that poverty areas

are concentrated around the central part of the city and the areas

in the southeastern section of the

city near the Anacostia River.

The same poverty thresholds used

to determine poverty status in the

50 states and the District of

Columbia were used to determine

poverty status in Puerto Rico. Of

the 3.8 million people who resided

in Puerto Rico in 1999, 72.6 percent lived in tracts with poverty

rates of 40 percent or more (see

Table 1). 

Age Composition

According to Census 2000, 

25.6 percent of the population of

the United States were children

under 18 years of age, while 

61.9 percent were adults between

18 and 64 and 12.4 percent were

65 or older (see Table 3). The proportion of children under 18 was

larger (29.4 percent) in tracts with

poverty rates of 40 percent or

more (Category IV) than in tracts

with poverty rates of less than

12.4 percent (Category I), where it

was 24.9 percent.

The proportion of people 65 or

older was higher in tracts with

lower poverty rates. In tracts in

5 The Northeast region includes the

states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,

New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,

Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

The Midwest region includes the states of

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan,

Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North

Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

The South region includes the states of

Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida,

Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland,

Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South

Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West

Virginia, and the District of Columbia, a state

equivalent. The West region includes the

states of Alaska, Arizona, California,

Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada,

New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, 

and Wyoming.

Table 2.

Poverty Thresholds (Annual Dollar Amounts) by Size of Family and Number of Related

Children Under 18 Years Old: 1999

Size of family unit

Related children under 18 years

None One Two Three Four Five Six Seven

Eight or

more

One person (unrelated individual)

Under 65 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,667

65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,990

Two people

Householder under 65 years . . 11,156 11,483

Householder 65 years and over 10,070 11,440

Three people .................. 13,032 13,410 13,423

Four people . .................. 17,184 17,465 16,895 16,954

Five people . ................... 20,723 21,024 20,380 19,882 19,578

Six people . . ................... 23,835 23,930 23,436 22,964 22,261 21,845

Seven people .................. 27,425 27,596 27,006 26,595 25,828 24,934 23,953

Eight people . .................. 30,673 30,944 30,387 29,899 29,206 28,327 27,412 27,180

Nine people or more ............ 36,897 37,076 36,583 36,169 35,489 34,554 33,708 33,499 32,208

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, <www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/threshld/thresh99.html>.
U.S. Census Bureau 5

Categories I and II, 12.9 percent

were people 65 or older, while the

proportion in tracts in Category III

and Category IV were 10.9 percent

and 8.0 percent, respectively.

Race and Hispanic Origin

Of the total 281 million people in

the United States in 2000, 

75.1 percent reported the single

race of White, while 12.2 percent

reported only Black (see Table 3).6

People who reported the single

races of American Indian or Alaska

Native, Asian, or Native Hawaiian

or Other Pacific Islander composed

0.9 percent, 3.6 percent, and 

0.1 percent, respectively, of the

population. About 12.5 percent of

respondents indicated they were

Hispanic.7

More than 70 percent of nonHispanic Whites lived in tracts with

a poverty rate less than 12.4 percent (Category I), compared with

31.8 percent of Blacks, 36.2 percent of American Indians and

Alaska Natives, 54.0 percent of

Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific

Islanders, and 65.6 percent of

Asians (see Figure 4). In 1999, of

the nearly 8.0 million people who

lived in Category IV tracts, 

24.1 percent were non-Hispanic

White, 39.9 percent were Black,

and 28.9 percent were Hispanic

(see Table 3).

Education

About one-fifth of the 209.1 million people who were 18 years or

older in 1999 had less than a high

school education, while 57.4 percent had completed high school or

earned an associate’s degree and

22.3 percent had graduated from

college or had more education (see

Table 3). 

Of the 131.8 million people who

lived in tracts with poverty rates

less than 12.4 percent (Category I),

27.5 percent had graduated from

college or had more education. The

corresponding proportions for

tracts in Categories II, III, and IV

were 15.4 percent, 11.6 percent,

and 8.6 percent, respectively.

In contrast, of the 5.6 million people who lived in tracts with poverty rates of 40 percent or more

(Category IV), 37.9 percent had not

completed a high school education, higher than the proportions

for the tracts in Categories III, II,

and I, whose proportions were

35.5 percent, 25.9 percent, and

14.3 percent, respectively.

Residential Mobility

To determine residential mobility

status, data were collected for

people 5 and older on whether

they lived in the same home 5

years ago. Of these people, 

54.1 percent had lived in the same

home, while 45.9 percent had lived

in a different home (including both

domestic and international moves,

as shown in Table 3). 

Figure 1.

Percentage Distribution of People Living in Poverty 

Areas and the Total Population by Region: 1999

17.4

19.0

15.1

22.9

42.9

35.6

24.7

22.5

Living in poverty areas

(20 percent or more in poverty)

Total population

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.

Northeast Midwest South West

6 Census 2000 asked respondents to

choose one or more races. With the exception of the Two or More Races group, all race

groups discussed in this report refer to people who indicated only one racial identity

among the six major categories: White, Black

or African American, American Indian or

Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or

Other Pacific Islander, and Some Other Race.

The use of the single-race population in this

report does not imply that it is the preferred

method of presenting or analyzing data. The

Census Bureau uses a variety of approaches.

7 Because Hispanics may be any race,

data in this report for Hispanics overlap with

data for racial groups. Based on Census

2000 long-form data, the proportion reporting as Hispanic was 8.0 percent for singlerace Whites, 1.9 percent for single-race

Blacks, 14.6 percent for single-race American

Indians and Alaska Natives, 1.0 percent for

single-race Asians, 9.5 percent for singlerace Pacific Islanders, 97.1 percent for those

reporting only “Some Other Race,” and 

31.1 percent for those reporting Two or

More Races.
6 U.S. Census Bureau

People living in tracts with higher

poverty rates were more likely to

have lived in a different home 5

years earlier. Of the people who

lived in tracts with poverty rates of

40 percent or higher (Category IV),

53.9 percent had lived in a different

home 5 years earlier, while 48.9

percent, 47.1 percent, and 44.4 percent of those who lived in tracts in

Categories III, II, and I, respectively,

had changed residence.

Marital Status

Of the 221.0 million people who

were 15 years or older, 54.4 percent were currently married, while

27.1 percent had never been married (see Table 3). An additional

6.6 percent were widowed, while

9.8 percent were divorced and 

2.2 percent were separated. 

The distribution of people by marital status varied among tracts with

different poverty rates. Of the

139.2 million people who lived in

tracts with poverty rates of less

than 12.4 percent (Category I),

59.2 percent were currently married. In tracts with higher poverty

rates, this proportion declined to

51.1 percent in Category II tracts

and to 42.8 percent and 30.3 percent, respectively, in Category III

and Category IV tracts.

The pattern of people who were 15

or older and who had never married was the reverse. Of the people

who resided in Category I tracts,

23.8 percent reported never being

married, while that proportion was

28.1 percent, 35.5 percent, and

50.2 percent for people who lived

in tracts in Categories II, III, and IV,

respectively.

Note: In 1999, 94.3 percent of the people residing in Puerto Rico lived in poverty areas.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.

 Wyoming

 Wisconsin

 West Virginia

 Washington

 Virginia

 Vermont

 Utah

 Texas

 Tennessee

 South Dakota

 South Carolina

 Rhode Island

 Pennsylvania

 Oregon

 Oklahoma

 Ohio

 North Dakota

 North Carolina

 New York

 New Mexico

 New Jersey

 New Hampshire

 Nevada

 Nebraska

 Montana

 Missouri

 Mississippi

 Minnesota

 Michigan

 Massachusetts

 Maryland

 Maine

 Louisiana

 Kentucky

 Kansas

 Iowa

 Indiana

 Illinois

 Idaho

 Hawaii

 Georgia

 Florida

 District of Columbia

 Delaware

 Connecticut

 Colorado

 California

 Arkansas

 Arizona

 Alaska

 Alabama

United States 18.4

26.2

8.2

24.4

23.7

9.9

25.0

10.5

6.8

41.9

16.7

20.5

12.8

6.7

14.8

10.0

5.1

9.7

30.2

41.7

7.5

8.7

12.7

14.3

6.8

41.7

15.3

20.9

8.1

11.0

1.9

10.5

37.1

25.7

14.6

10.8

13.9

24.7

10.6

14.0

20.8

28.2

11.0

4.4

9.7

11.1

33.8

8.8

7.8

17.8

14.0

21.0

Figure 2. 

Percentage of the Population Living in Poverty Areas

by State: 1999

U.S. rate
Unemployment

Nationally, of the 137.6 million civilians 16 or older who were in the

labor force, the unemployment rate

was 5.8 percent (see Table 3). This

proportion was lower in tracts with

lower poverty rates and higher in

tracts with higher poverty rates.

The unemployment rate was 

4.0 percent for people who lived in

tracts with poverty rate of less than

12.4 percent (Category I), compared

with 6.8 percent, 10.9 percent, and

18.6 percent in tracts in Categories

II, III, and IV, respectively.

Family Size

About 74 percent of people in the

United States who lived in family

households lived in families with

four or fewer people, while about

21 percent lived in families of five

or six people, and about 5 percent

in families of seven or more people

(see Table 3). 

The distribution of families of different sizes varied among tracts

with different poverty rates. Of the

147.6 million people who lived in

tracts with poverty rates of less

than 12.4 percent (Category I),

77.4 percent lived in families of

four or fewer people. In tracts with

higher poverty rates, this proportion was 73.7 percent, 65.9 percent, and 59.2 percent in Category

II, Category III, and Category IV

tracts, respectively.

About 3 percent of people in families residing in Category I tracts

lived in large family households

with seven or more people. This

proportion increased to 5.9 percent, 9.8 percent, and 13.7 percent

for families who lived in Categories

II, III, and IV tracts, respectively. 

Type of Family

Of the 72.3 million families in the

United States in 1999, 76.7 percent were families with married

couples living together, while 

17.3 percent were female-householder families with no husband

present, and 6.0 percent were

male-householder families with no

wife present (see Table 3).8

The proportion of married-couple

families was higher in tracts with

poverty rates of less than 12.4 percent (Category I) than in tracts

with higher poverty rates (categories II, III, and IV). Among all

families residing in Category I

tracts, 82.4 percent were married

couples. This proportion was 

72.7 percent, 60.5 percent, and

43.8 percent in tracts in Categories

II, III, and IV, respectively.

U.S. Census Bureau 7

Figure 3.

Poverty Rate

by Census Tract: 1999

Washington, DC

12.4 to 19.9

Virginia

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.

Maryland

Percent of people

in poverty

No population

in census tract

40.0 or more

20.0 to 39.9

0.0 to 12.3

8 One-person households and households

consisting only of unrelated individuals are

not considered families.
8 U.S. Census Bureau

In contrast, the proportion of families with female householder with

no husband present and families

with male householder with no wife

present was higher in Category IV

tracts than in tracts in other categories. For families with female

householders with no husband

present, the proportions ranged

from 12.7 percent in Category I

tracts to 47.0 percent in Category

IV tracts. For families with male

householders and no wife present,

the corresponding figures were 

4.9 percent and 9.2 percent.

Family Income

Nationally, about 50 percent of

families had annual incomes of

$50,000 or more in 1999, and

15.3 percent had incomes of

$100,000 or more, while 4.8 percent had incomes of $9,999 or less

(see Table 3).9 About 60 percent of

families in tracts with poverty

rates of less than 12.4 percent

(Category I) had incomes of

$50,000 or more, while 14.3 percent had that level in tracts with

poverty rates of 40 percent or

more (Category IV).

The proportions of families with

annual incomes in 1999 below

$10,000 were 2.2 percent in

Category I tracts, and 6.3 percent,

11.9 percent, and 24.2 percent in

Categories II, III, and IV tracts,

respectively.

Figure 4.

Distribution of People by Race and Ethnicity and by 

Poverty Level of Tracts: 1999

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.

(In percent)

Hispanic

origin

(of any race)

Two or

More

Races

Some Other

Race alone

Native

Hawaiian

and

Other Pacific

Islander alone

Asian

alone

American

Indian

and

Alaska Native

alone

Black

alone

White alone,

not Hispanic

Category I

Category II

Category IV

Category III

6.5

72.8

17.7

8.5

1.0

31.8

22.2

36.7

9.2

36.2

23.5

30.6

9.7

65.6

17.0

14.7

2.7

54.0

22.9

19.9

3.2

30.7

25.2

37.3

6.9

53.5

21.9

21.1

3.5

35.5

24.2

33.8

9 Nationwide, about 690,000 families, or

about 1.0 percent of the total number of

families, reported no income in 1999. Some

of these families with no income were living

on income “in kind,” savings, or gifts; were

newly created families; or were families in

which the sole breadwinner had recently

died or left the household.
U.S. Census Bureau 9

Home Ownership

Of the 105.5 million occupied

housing units reported in Census

2000, 66.2 percent were owned by

residents, while 33.8 percent were

rented (see Table 3). The proportion of homeowners was highest at

73.9 percent in tracts with poverty

rates of less than 12.4 percent

(Category I), followed by tracts in

Categories II, III, and IV— 

60.6 percent, 46.8 percent, and

27.2 percent, respectively. 

Accuracy of the Estimates

The data contained in this report are

based on the sample of households

who responded to the Census 2000

long form. Nationally, approximately one out of every six housing units

was included in this sample. As a

result, the sample estimates may

differ somewhat from the 

100-percent figures that would have

been obtained if all housing units,

people within those housing units,

and people living in group quarters

had been enumerated using the

same questionnaires, instructions,

enumerators, and so forth. The

sample estimates also differ from

the values that would have been

obtained from different samples of

housing units, people within those

housing units, and people living in

group quarters. The deviation of a

sample estimate from the average of

all possible samples is called the

sampling error. 

In addition to the variability that

arises from the sampling procedures, both sample data and 

100-percent data are subject to

nonsampling error. Nonsampling

error may be introduced during any

of the various complex operations

used to collect and process data.

Such errors may include: not enumerating every household or every

person in the population, failing to

obtain all required information from

the respondents, obtaining incorrect

or inconsistent information, and

recording information incorrectly. In

addition, errors can occur during

the field review of the enumerators’

work, during clerical handling of

the census questionnaires, or

during the electronic processing of

the questionnaires.

Nonsampling error may affect the

data in two ways: first, errors that

are introduced randomly will

increase the variability of the data

and, therefore, should be reflected

in the standard errors; and second,

errors that tend to be consistent in

one direction will bias both sample

and 100-percent data in that

direction. For example, if respondents consistently tend to underreport their incomes, then the

resulting estimates of households

or families by income category will

tend to be understated for the

higher-income categories and overstated for the lower-income categories. Such biases are not reflected in the standard errors.

While it is impossible to completely

eliminate error from an operation

as large and complex as the decennial census, the Census Bureau

attempts to control the sources of

such error during the data collection and processing operations.

The primary sources of error and

the programs instituted to control

error in Census 2000 are described

in detail in Summary File 3

Technical Documentation under

Chapter 8, “Accuracy of the Data,”

located at <www.census.gov

/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf>. 

All statements in this report have

undergone statistical testing and

all comparative statements are significant at the 90-percent confidence level unless otherwise

noted. The estimates in tables,

maps, and other figures may vary

from actual values due to sampling

and nonsampling errors. As a

result, estimates for one category

may not be significantly different

from estimates for a different category. Further information on the

accuracy of the data is located at 

<www.census.gov/prod/cen2000

/doc/sf3.pdf>. For further information on the computation and

use of standard errors, contact the

Decennial Statistical Studies

Division at 301-763-4242. 
10 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 3.

Distribution of People, Families, and Households by Poverty Level of Census Tracts and

Other Selected Characteristics: 1999

(Percent distribution within specific poverty category)

Characteristics

Number/percent*

Poverty levels of census tracts

All

census

tracts

Category I

[0.00–12.39%]

Category II

[12.40–19.99%]

Category III

[20.00–39.99%]

Category IV

[40.00% or

more]

People

United States . ................................ 62.4% 19.1% 15.6% 2.8% 281,283,909

Region

Total ........................................ 175,600,466 53,822,590 43,908,593 7,952,260 281,283,909

Northest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.1 13.9 16.4 22.9 19.0

Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.0 16.9 14.7 17.3 22.9

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.7 44.7 43.6 38.7 35.6

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.2 24.5 25.3 21.0 22.5

Age

Total ........................................ 175,600,466 53,822,590 43,908,593 7,952,260 281,283,909

Under 18 years . ................................ 24.9 25.3 28.2 29.4 25.6

18 to 64 years .................................. 62.2 61.8 60.9 62.6 61.9

65 years and older .............................. 12.9 12.9 10.9 8.0 12.4

Race and Hispanic Origin

Total ........................................ 175,600,466 53,822,590 43,908,593 7,952,260 281,283,909

White alone .................................... 84.4 71.2 49.5 36.9 75.1

White alone, not Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.7 63.9 37.6 24.1 69.1

Black alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 14.2 28.7 39.9 12.2

American Indian and Alaska Native alone . . . . . . . . . . 0.5 1.1 1.7 3.0 0.9

Asian alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8 3.2 3.4 3.5 3.6

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander

alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1

Some Other Race alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7 7.2 13.1 13.3 5.5

Two or More Races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 3.0 3.5 3.2 2.6

Hispanic origin (of any race) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1 15.8 27.1 28.9 12.5

Educational Attainment (18 years or older)

Total ........................................ 131,816,015 40,199,882 31,513,569 5,614,017 209,143,483

Less than high school, no diploma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.3 25.9 35.5 37.9 20.3

High school graduate or associate degree . . . . . . . . . 58.2 58.7 53.0 53.4 57.4

College graduate or more ........................ 27.5 15.4 11.6 8.6 22.3

Mobility Status (5 years or older)

Total......................................... 164,340,131 50,141,407 40,465,246 7,290,403 262,237,187

Yes, same house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55.6 52.9 51.1 46.1 54.1

No (includes inside & outside US) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.4 47.1 48.9 53.9 45.9

Marital Status (15 years or older)

Total ........................................ 139,174,271 42,430,210 33,443,864 5,962,633 221,010,978

Now Married . .................................. 59.2 51.1 42.8 30.3 54.4

Widowed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 7.3 7.4 6.5 6.6

Divorced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3 11.0 10.5 8.3 9.8

Separated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 2.6 3.8 4.7 2.2

Never Married . ................................. 23.8 28.1 35.5 50.2 27.1

Employment Status (Civilian labor force, 16

years or older)

Total ........................................ 90,808,050 25,406,548 18,507,110 2,925,882 137,647,590

Employed, at work or not at work ................. 96.0 93.2 89.1 81.4 94.2

Unemployed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.0 6.8 10.9 18.6 5.8

See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau 11

For More Information

The Census 2000 Summary File 3

data used in this report are available

from the American Factfinder on the

Internet <factfinder.census.gov>. For

information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, sampling

error, and definitions, also see

<www.census.gov/prod/cen2000

/doc/sf3.pdf> or contact the

Customer Services Center at 

301-763-INFO (4636), or e-mail 

<webmaster@census.gov>.

For additional information on

poverty, including reports and

survey data, visit the Census

Bureau’s Internet site at 

<www.census.gov/hhes/www

/poverty.html>. To find information about the availability of data

products, including reports, CDROMs, and DVDs, call the

Customer Services Center at 

301-763-INFO (4636) or e-mail

<webmaster@census.gov>.

Table 3.

Distribution of People, Families, and Households by Poverty Level of Census Tracts and

Other Selected Characteristics: 1999—Con.

(Percent distribution within specific poverty category)

Characteristics

Number/percent*

Poverty levels of census tracts

All

census

tracts

Category I

[0.00–12.39%]

Category II

[12.40–19.99%]

Category III

[20.00–39.99%]

Category IV

[40.00% or

more]

Number of People in Family

Total ........................................ 147,640,757 43,503,959 35,128,005 5,602,213 231,874,934

Less than five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77.4 73.7 65.9 59.2 74.5

Five and six . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.5 20.4 24.3 27.0 20.6

Seven or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 5.9 9.8 13.7 4.9

Families

Type of Families

Total......................................... 47,211,034 13,500,152 10,049,268 1,501,326 72,261,780

Married couple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82.4 72.7 60.5 43.8 76.7

Male-householder with no wife present . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9 7.2 8.9 9.2 6.0

Female-householder with no husband present . . . . . 12.7 20.1 30.7 47.0 17.3

Family Income

Total ........................................ 47,211,034 13,500,152 10,049,268 1,501,326 72,261,780

No income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5 1.2 2.2 4.3 1.0

$1 to $9.999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 6.3 11.9 24.2 4.8

$10,000 to $29,999 ............................. 15.1 28.5 35.7 39.9 21.0

$30,000 to $49,999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.0 27.4 24.4 17.3 23.2

$50,000 to $99,999 ............................. 40.0 29.3 21.0 11.6 34.8

$100,000 or more . .............................. 20.2 7.3 4.8 2.7 15.3

Households

Tenure

Total ........................................ 66,932,648 20,501,789 15,520,169 2,525,495 105,480,101

Own home . .................................... 73.9 60.6 46.8 27.2 66.2

Rent .......................................... 26.1 39.4 53.2 72.8 33.8

*The numbers and percentages in this table cover all people living in the nation’s 65,004 census tracts with at least one household

within its boundaries. These tracts comprised 99.95 percent of the total population of the United States counted during Census 2000.

Details may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.