Nearly one out of five California kids live in poverty

WASHINGTON, D.C.
November 18, 2009 8:07am

The specter of poverty is part of everyday life for tens of thousands of children in the Central Valley, and more than 1.7 million in California, according to new figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The tabulations are used to help allocate federal funds to local jurisdictions. In addition, state and local programs use these data for distributing funds and managing school programs.

The Census Bureau says more than 1.7 million children live in poverty in California, 18.5 percent of all residents 18 years of age or under.

Within the Central Valley, the childhood poverty rates are:

• Butte County, 26.0 percent (11,696 children)

• Fresno County, 31.3 percent (83,435 children)

• Kern County, 26.6 percent (62,540 children)

• Kings County, 22.5 percent (9,066 children)

• Madera County, 27.0 percent (10,930 children)

• Merced County, 28.8 percent (21,790 children)

• Sacramento County, 19.0 percent (67,561 children)

• San Joaquin County, 22.0 percent (41,994 children)

• Stanislaus County, 19.6 percent (28,010 children)

• Tulare County, 30.7 percent (41,040 children)

• Yolo County, 14.7 percent (6,536 children)

• Yuba County, 23.9 percent (4,986 children)

The highest percentage in the state is in tiny Trinity County at 31.6, but because of its small population, that pencils out to 713 children.

The lowest percentage is 7.6 percent in Placer County, or 5,579 children.

The federal agency’s tables are for 2008 income and poverty estimates for every school district and county in the nation. The data are part of the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates program, currently the only source of Census Bureau income and poverty data for each of the nation's 3,142 counties and almost 14,000 Title I-eligible school districts.

Download an Excel file with the figures for every state by clicking on the link below. State and county estimates are provided for the total number of people in poverty, the number of children under age 5 in poverty (for states only), number of related children age 5 to 17 in families in poverty, number of children under 18 in poverty and median household income.