Posted in North Dakota
February 14, 2016
Here Are The 10 Poorest Counties In North Dakota
If you’ve ever wondered about distribution of wealth in North Dakota, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 poorest counties in the state. It is based on data pulled from the US Census Bureau of the amount of people living below the poverty line in each county – based on income, size of household, and a few other factors – then ranked on IndexMundi.
To give a bit of perspective, this data comes from the Bureau’s 2010 American Community Survey. The national poverty rate for all families in 2010 was 10.1 percent.
With 40.5 percent of its residents below the poverty line, Sioux County ranks #1 as the poorest county in ND.
Rolette County has 36 percent of its population below the poverty line, putting it second on the list.
35.8 percent of the population in Benson County is below the poverty line, giving it a close third behind Rolette.
It is interesting to note that there is a large drop from the top three counties to Grand Forks County, which only has 16 percent of the residents below the poverty line, and all the rest of the counties. That is around a 25 percent gap.
Emmons County has 14.9 percent of residents below the poverty line, furthering the distance from the top three poorest counties.
At 14.3 percent, Pierce County ranks 6th on the list.
Just behind Pierce County comes Grant County, with 14.2 percent below the poverty line, only a 0.1 percent difference from #6.
McHenry County is technically tied for 7th with Grant County. It also has 14.2 percent of its population living in poverty.
Eddy County is still above the national poverty rate of 10.1 percent in 2010 with a rate of 13.8 percent.
Another tie, and last on the list, with 13.8 percent of residents living in poverty in McIntosh County.
Were you surprised by any of these that made the list? What about the gap between the first few and the others – why do you think that is?
