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Census survey: Hidalgo County poorest in Texas
The annual American Community Survey is a nationwide survey designed to provide communities a fresh look at how they are changing.
About 3 million housing unit addresses are selected annually, across every county in the nation. The survey collects information such as age, race, income, commute time to work, home value, veteran status, and other important data from the U.S. population. As with the official decennial census, information about individuals is kept confidential.
Three types of estimates are available this year from the American Community Survey: one-year estimates (based on data collected in a single year), three-year estimates (based on data collected in three consecutive years) and five-year estimates (based on data collected in five consecutive years). One-year estimates are tabulated for geographic areas with a population of 65,000 or more, which includes about 800 counties across the nation.
To access the American Community Survey online, visit www.census.gov.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
McALLEN — Hidalgo County is the poorest place in Texas, according to estimates released Tuesday as part of the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
The county had the lowest median household income in 2009 compared to 50 other counties surveyed in the state. The new data also show more residents lived in poverty in Hidalgo County compared to any other Texas county, based on the survey’s one-year estimates.
Hidalgo County’s median household income last year was $30,460 in inflation-adjusted dollars, slightly higher than the poverty line threshold of $22,050 for a family of four. The average household size was 3.4 people.
“In Hidalgo County, there are areas of wealth, but in these areas, like in south Pharr … we have other riches, but not in terms of economics,” said Andrea Olvera, who runs Las Milpas branch of A Resource in Serving Equality, a colonia service and support organization better known as ARISE.
“There is no money for many here,” she said in Spanish.
ARISE offers free English classes and immigration advice for low-income families living in Hidalgo County.
While there have been many improvements for poor residents in the Rio Grande Valley, poverty levels may remain high as unemployed immigrants continue moving into the region, Olvera said.
“A lot has gotten better for many of us,” Olvera said. “But migration continues, and we’re here to help those new people and orient them and give them the resources they need.”
In 2009, 35 percent of people in the county were living in poverty, the survey estimates. Children were the most affected by poverty in Hidalgo County, with nearly half of all residents under age 18 living below the poverty level. That compares with 27 percent of people ages 65 and older.
Of all homes with a female householder and no husband present, 54 percent had incomes below the poverty level.
Cameron County ranked second poorest, in terms of median household income and poverty rate.
The year-to-year estimates released Tuesday only include data for geographic areas with populations of 65,000 or more — leaving Starr and Willacy counties out of the survey.
The poverty line is the minimum level of income deemed necessary to reach an adequate standard of living. It is adjusted from year to year depending on inflation rates but does not vary by region.
The many immigrants in Hidalgo County who lack legal residency and the documents necessary to work in the U.S. may account for a large percentage of people living below the poverty threshold, said Victor de Leon, a spokesman for McAllen-based Workforce Solutions, the workforce development board that serves Hidalgo, Starr and Willacy counties.
“(The data) brings to light the need that we have here,” de Leon said. “A lot of it has to do with the geographical region that we’re in.”
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Ana Ley covers business and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4428.
