Benton County has state’s lowest poverty rate, Lee County has highest

Census Bureau estimates show the poverty rate fell nationally from 2017 to 2018, but rose half a percent in Arkansas. Meanwhile, the estimated median household incomes rose both in Arkansas and in the U.S.

According to a U.S. Census Bureau report released in December, Arkansas’ percentage of residents living in poverty rose from 16.3% to 16.8%. The national rate fell from 13.4% to 13.1%.

The poverty rate is $25,750 for a family of four. The report came from the Bureau’s Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates program.

However, the data collections are an inexact science, leading to estimates based on what the Census Bureau calls a “90% confidence interval.” The estimates are based off American Community Survey samples, which the Census Bureau acknowledges can lead to errors. Moreover, the Census Bureau says its sampling model does not fit all counties nationwide, but it does not know which ones.

For Arkansas, that interval ranges from 16.3% to 17.3% for 2018, and from 15.9% to 16.7% for 2017. Taking the lowest poverty rate from 2018 and the highest rate from 2017, it’s possible the state’s poverty level actually fell .4% that year.

In 2018, the state’s median household income was $47,094, compared to a national median income of $61,937, the Bureau found. A year before, the median household incomes were $45,916 in Arkansas and $60,336 nationwide.

That’s an increase of $1,178 in Arkansas. However, confidence levels range from $45,181 to $46,651 in 2017 and from $46,401 to $47,787 in 2018, meaning a drop of $250 is within that range.

Nationally, however, the lowest estimate of $61,843 in 2018 is still higher than the highest estimate of $60,422 in 2017.

Taking the numbers for what they are, the poverty rate rose in 37 Arkansas counties from 2017 to 2018.

For 2018, the counties with the highest poverty rates were in eastern and/or southern Arkansas. Lee County (Marianna) had the highest rate at 43% in 2018. It had the nation’s 7th highest poverty rate out of nearly 3,200 counties listed nationwide. Its median income of $28,080 was the nation’s 12th lowest.

It was followed by St. Francis County (Forrest City) with a poverty rate of 35.6%. Phillips County (Helena-West Helena) was third highest at 35.4%, followed by Chicot County, the state’s most southeastern county, at 31.4%. Lincoln County south of Pine Bluff had a rate of 27.5%. Monroe County (Brinkley) was next with a poverty rate of 26%, while Mississippi County (Blytheville) had a rate of 25.7%.

Phillips County had the second lowest median income at $29,945. Searcy County was third lowest at $31,659, followed by Chicot County at $31,787.

Benton County (Bentonville/Rogers) had the state’s lowest poverty rate at 8.6% – the nation’s 314th lowest rate. Its $68,978 median income was the state’s highest in 2018.

Saline County (Benton/Bryant) had the state’s second lowest poverty rate at 9.7% and the second highest median income at $63,677. Lonoke County (Cabot) had the third lowest poverty rate at 11.9% and the third highest median income, $56,651.

Grant County (Sheridan) had the fourth lowest poverty rate at 13.1%. Independence County (Batesville) was next at 14.5%.

Among the state’s larger counties, Washington County (Fayetteville) had the 10th lowest poverty rate at 15.2%. Faulkner County (Conway) had the 11th lowest at 15.4%. Sebastian County (Fort Smith) was 13th lowest at 15.6%.

The state’s largest county, Pulaski County (Little Rock) had the state’s 24th lowest poverty rate at 16.7%.

Faulkner County had the fourth highest median income at $53,882. Grant County was fifth at $52,050, followed by Washington County at $50,893 and Pulaski County at $49,957. Sebastian County had the 11th highest median income at $46,843.