Poverty Rates in Florida
Huge Percentages of Retail Jobs do Not Pay Enough to Get By
With a poverty rate of 11.9%, Florida is ranked as having the 22nd highest poverty rate in the United States, a rank that Florida shares with Illinois.
This is just slightly better than the poverty rate of Michigan, and just slightly higher than the poverty rate of Ohio.
Where the Worst Poverty in Florida Occurs
Poverty in Florida occurs mainly in poor sections of large cities in many different areas of the state.
However, there are also critical levels of poverty (see map below article) in five counties which are in more rural areas of northern and central Florida.
The counties in which the poverty rate is critical (50% or more above the state average) are the following:
- Dixie (18.0%)
- Hamilton (20.9%)
- Hardee (19.5%)
- Lafayette (18.6%)
- Union (18.2%)
However, even higher rates of poverty can be found in poor sections of large cities all over the state. The major cities (above 25,000 people) in which the poverty rates have reached critical levels are the following:
- Daytona Beach (23.6%)
- Fort Myers (21.8%)
- Fort Pierce (30.9%)
- Gainesville (26.7%)
- Hialeah (18.6%)
- Homestead (31.8%)
- Lake Worth (20.0%)
- Lauderdale Lakes (22.5%)
- Lauderhill (17.8%)
- Miami Beach (21.8%)
- Miami (28.5%)
- North Miami Beach (20.5%)
- North Miami (23.9%)
- Ocala (18.1%)
- Riviera Beach (23.0%)
- Sanford (17.8%)
- Tallahassee (24.7%)
- Tampa (18.1%)
- West Palm Beach (18.9%)
Why the Worst Poverty in Florida Exists
Mainly, the poverty in Florida will exist due to problems that are commonly found in urban areas. These problems often times revolve around two main issues.
The first issue is that the wages in the city are too low. The second issue is that the cost of living in the city is too high.
Retail is overwhelmingly the sector with the lowest wages. Florida’s retail trade sector provided 48.1% of Florida’s jobs paying $6.15 per hour or less.
Contrary to popular belief, teenagers do not predominate among very low-wage workers. 76.6% of those earning $6.15 per hour or less were aged 20 or over, and 81.9% of those earning between $6.15 and $7.15 per hour were 20 or over.
People living in these highly urban areas, unlike the poor in rural areas, are completely dependant on the market for all basic needs such as water, food, shelter, health care, higher education and insurance.
If the cost of living goes up and the minimum wage does not, then we start seeing more and more working families fall into poverty.
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 Florida
Since real estate is a real problem, Florida Amendment One to the Florida Constitution, also known as the “Portability of Save Our Homes” was introduced.
However, the Florida Amendment One does practically nothing for people without very high mortgages, and this opportunity to help the poor was unfortunately twisted into another tax break for the wealthy by the current Governor Crist.
Politicians that actually are working to improve the poverty situation in Florida are those who fought for an increase in the minimum wage.
Some of the organizations that are helping the poor in urban and rural areas of Florida include the Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County, Workforce Central Florida, Heart of Florida United Way, and the Metropolitan Center for Regional Studies at UCF.
References:
United States Census Bureau
Working Poverty: Low Wage Workers in Florida – FIU RISEP
Poverty in Central Florida – UCF Institute for Social and Behavioral Sciences
