Poverty Rates in Colorado
Critical Poverty in Rural Areas Tends to be Overlooked
With a poverty rate of 10.2%, Colorado has the 38th highest poverty rate in the United States. This is just slightly better than the poverty rates of Wyoming and Utah, and just slightly higher than the poverty rates of Alaska and Nebraska.
Where the Worst Poverty in Colorado Occurs
The poverty in Colorado mainly occurs in the extremely rural southeastern corner of the state (see map below article). Many of the counties where poverty levels are critical have averages as small as 1 to 3 people per square mile.
The poverty seems to be extremely geographically isolated, because all of the counties where poverty levels are critical (50% above the state average) are right next to each other.
The counties in Colorado with critical levels of poverty include the following:
- Alamosa (19.2%)
- Baca (15.6%)
- Bent (20.4%)
- Conejos (19.1%)
- Costilla (22.4%)
- Crowley (27.8%)
- Huerfano (19.7%)
- Las Animas (15.6%)
- Lincoln (15.7%)
- Otero (17.8%)
- Prowers (17.4%)
- Pueblo (16.3%)
- Rio Grande (16.3%)
- Saguache (22.7%)
However, there are also three cities in Colorado where the poverty has reached a critical level. These are Greeley (16.9%), Boulder (17.4%), and Pueblo (17.8%).
Why the Worst Poverty in Colorado Exists
The most poverty in Colorado seems to exist largely due to the fact that this land is so very rural. This makes it extremely difficult to access basic utilities that many Americans take for granted.
In these southeastern regions of Colorado, it is sometimes very difficult for people to access things like water, electricity, sewage systems, and properly maintained roads.
Also, when the state and federal government allow entire regions like this to become huge pockets of poverty, the region becomes an unattractive place for teachers and health care professionals to work.
This in turn leads to low quality, or hard to reach education and health care. This increases the difficulty for people living in poverty to ever escape poverty in the region.
The high poverty rates in the northern cities, such as Boulder and Greeley, seem to be due to wages that are too low to pay for the rising cost of living.
The median household income in both cities is lower than the Colorado state average. In Boulder the median household income is $44,748, and in Greeley it is $36,414. The Colorado state average is $47,203.
All of this aside, it is important to keep in mind that the reasons for poverty are as unique as the individuals who live through it. Though finding trends in a specific area is important, no generalization can account for everyone.
What is Being Done about Poverty in Colorado
For poor people living in the northern urban areas of Colorado, there is the Food Bank of the Rockies. This organization holds events and offers food assistance for people living in low-income households and the homeless in northern Colorado.
The poor in urban areas also have national legislators who worked to raise the minimum wage on their side. A raise in the minimum wage will significantly help many people in Boulder and Greeley keep up with the constantly rising cost of living.
As for the poor in southern Colorado, they mostly have to try and take care of each other. Organizations like the Crowley County Council of Churches and Care & Share Food Bank do a lot to make sure fellow residents in southern Colorado don’t go hungry.
It is not uncommon that rural America is left to fend for itself, and rural Colorado is unfortunately no exception.
References:
United States Census Bureau
Care and Share Food Bank of Southern Colorado
