Washtenaw County household income rises, but so does percentage of households living in poverty
Hikone Community residents select from a variety of dairy items delivered from Food Gatherers in the community room in late September. Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com
The number of Washtenaw County households making more than $200,000 a year skyrocketed in the past decade, far outpacing the growth at the top end of the U.S. Census Bureau’s income categories across the state.
That’s the good news.
But the number of Washtenaw County households making less than $10,000 a year grew by 13 percent in the past decade, also outpacing growth in the Census’ lowest income category across the state.
That’s the bad news.
The trend held true in the city of Ann Arbor, where the number of households making more than $200,000 a year grew slower than across the county as a whole — but still considerably faster than the rest of the state.
However, the number of households making less than $10,000 a year in income grew faster in Ann Arbor than across Washtenaw County or the state.
The numbers highlight what local agencies who work with those in need say they've known for years — while Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County are economically more robust and in a large part sheltered from the rest of Michigan’s struggles, there is a growing and often hidden class of people struggling to survive.
“Not only are there more of them, but also their conditions are worse,” said Joan Doughty, director of the Community Action Network. “It’s one thing for a child not to be able to celebrate their birthday — it’s another thing to be couch surfing or having all their stuff thrown out at the curb.
“It’s more than just a divide in income, I think it’s a divide in ability to navigate our society and what’s required now.”
Mark Erickson is among those having a hard time. In the last decade, the 46-year-old has been laid off from two jobs, had his house foreclosed on and is now bouncing from cheap apartment to cheap apartment, while occasional staying on the street or friends’ spare rooms.
“For like the first three or four years (of the decade), it seemed like I was going to be OK,” he said while looking for jobs online at the Ypsilanti District Library. “I got a couple of raises, and I was making a pretty decent living. It all fell apart so fast. I know a lot of my friends who are suffering. Most of them haven’t lost everything, but a ton of people I know have seen a big drop in their income. I think there are a lot of folks out there who are hurting. You just don’t see it very much, especially in Ann Arbor.”
Even applying for a job can be a barrier for some folks, Doughty said. She said a local company was interested in giving jobs to folks who live in the Bryant neighborhood, one of Ann Arbor’s poorest. But to get the warehouse job, they had to pass a computer skills class, and many didn’t.
RELATED CONTENT
- To see detailed numbers for Washtenaw County, download this file: washtenawcountyoverall.xls
- To see detailed numbers for Ann Arbor, download this file: annarbor.xls
- To see the detailed numbers for Chelsea, download this file: chelsea.xls
- To see detailed numbers for Dexter, download this file: dexter.xls
- To see detailed numbers for Pittsfield Township, download this file: Pittsfieldtownship.xls
- To see detailed numbers for Saline, download this file: saline.xls
- To see detailed numbers for Scio Township, download this file: sciotownship.xls
- To see detailed numbers for Ypsilanti, download this file: ypsilanti.xls
- To see detailed numbers for Ypsilanti Township, download this file: ypsilantitownship.xls
“I think our society is becoming more and more complex,” Doughty said. “The bar is being set higher and higher.”
And that’s leaving people behind, she said, especially those with cognitive problems.
“There’s always been people in society who had cognitive difficulty, but there were always jobs they could do,” she said.
In Washtenaw County, the median household income is just under $52,000, the Census numbers show. Those numbers were released earlier this week as part of the last big data dump from the Census Bureau before full results from the 2010 Census are available early next year.
The data is based on a rolling annual sample survey mailed to about 3 million addresses between Jan. 1, 2005, and Dec. 31, 2009, the Census Bureau said in a press release. By pooling several years of survey responses, the ACS can generate detailed statistical portraits of smaller geographies. The U.S. Census Bureau will release a new set of five-year estimates every year.
The income levels are 2009 figures compared against Census 2000 data.
The numbers for local communities confirm what's generally known about wealth in the county — Scio Township, Dexter and Saline have the highest median household income and the highest percentage of white residents. Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township have the lowest median household income and the largest percentage of black residents.
The gap between Scio Township’s median household income (the highest in the county) and Ypsilanti’s median household income (the lowest in the county) is about $50,000.
According to the Michigan League for Human Services, median household income in Michigan for whites fell by about 10 percent, while it fell more than 14 percent for black households.
Jane Zender-Merrell, a senior research associate at the Michigan League for Human Services and the director of the Kids Count in Michigan project, said across the state and nation, researchers are seeing a growing segregation between those who have money and those who don’t that largely matches segregation by race.
“You have this concentration of poverty, which compounds the problems because people who are living in poverty don’t have access to neighborhood supports they need,” she said.
David Jesse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidjesse@annarbor.com or at 734-623-2534.
Comments
stunhsif
Fri, Dec 17, 2010 : 9:47 p.m.
Had pay cut 5% 2 years ago, no pay raise in 4 years, no more incentive pay. Now pay double for health care what I did two years ago. Take home pay down 11% from 4 years ago. Now have new wife, 2 year old child, child support, college costs. Told new wife would love to have you stay at home with 2 year old child but we need more income.More going out than coming in. She finds job in two weeks in A2 as hostess ( with no experience), base pay plus some tips. Makes on average 14 bucks an hour. Works second shift so we have no day care. There are jobs out there if only people want to work, but when you can get unemployment for 99 weeks, why the heck work for 14 bucks an hour?
DonBee
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 11:21 p.m.
Just a personal note on this. During the time in question my pay doubled and then was cut in half. So during the study period if I were surveyed several times, I would have shown up in different groups. People in many cases are mobile in their incomes, sometimes going up and sometimes coming down. Some are not. But as I look back at my career, there were years when I made less than $5,000 and others when I topped $100,000. Statistics gives a view that lets people see the "poor" or the "rich" as unchanging and that people are stuck in society. I for one have not been stuck in a category my whole life. I doubt most of you have either. Some of the folks who would be under the poverty line today, might have been above the median 5 years ago. Fixing the overall State of Michigan to make the State more interesting to people with jobs to fill is the first thing we need to do here. More overall jobs leads to more people making money, paying taxes and donating to worthy charities. It also removes them from poverty.
David Briegel
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 7:47 p.m.
OK Top Cat, How many jobs did the Bush tax cuts create? Mike, Yeah, those poor people sure do like being poor. Denial is the gigantic river that runs through conservative philosophy!
Mike
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 5:01 p.m.
Why wouldn't the number of people making under $10,000 rise when you can get plenty of help "because" the local population cares and "wants" to spend money on helping the poor? The cost of living in Ann Arbor is also higher than most places requiring a larger income just to live here. If this town stops catering to people who make good incomes they'll go elsewhere, and believe me they do cater to the townsfolk. Life's not fair, but it is what you make of it. If you choose to smoke dope and party in high school then you have a lot better chance of being one of the under $10,000 crowd than you do if you buckle down, work hard, and stay clean. I'm not saying there aren't good people who find themselves in tough times through no fault of their own but I have personally seen many who won't take a job that pays less than their old one or won't get off of unemployment or welfare because it isn't financially advantageous. The "compassionate" safety net keeps them down because of fear of letting the government money go. I understand because I have been there. No easy answers but I believe if you work hard and make yourself valuable that eventually someone will take notice and want to hire you at a better position. I know men with families who had good jobs and are working at Home Depot but they are happier doing that than sitting at home and thinking about how life has dealt them a bad deal and getting all depressed.
Killroy
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 3:15 p.m.
Great article Mr. Jesse. I prefer this type of hard hitting journalism over burger eating contests any day!!! Nice work.
Carl Duncan
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 2:58 p.m.
Not one reference to North American Free Trade Agreement in this article. Yes the value of american agricultural products has increased with the NAFTA agreement. The trade off has been that american manufacturing has moved to Mexico and China where labor is cheap and arguably quality, in the case of China, is pitiful. One of the arguments for this agreement was that illegal immigration would be nipped in the bud when Mexico started employing their citizens in manufacturing goods and services on the Mexican side of the border. It was argued that an improved modern economy there would make illegal immigration less likely. Why would someone want to leave Mexico when a comparable american job was already in Mexico? Well our great lakes manufacturing base has found cheap wages very attractive in Mexico and China, and other destinations as well. In the mean time, illegal immigration on an unsecured southern border has reached a crescendo. The drug lords in Mexico threaten to take over the country. And China owns the majority of our rediculous debt.
Top Cat
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 2:27 p.m.
Welcome to the new "trickle down" poverty, courtesy of the political Left. Except it is a torrent not a trickle.
Tim Darton
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 1:44 p.m.
Whatever Buggy, but public art has been an issue for a long time and it was again in the last election cycle. It seems like the voters of the city really like the people on council and the programs they vote for. They were all just reelected with overwhelming majorities in both the primary and the general elections. BTW, thought I saw something here that A2 had the lowest water and sewer rates in the state.
David Briegel
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 1:40 p.m.
Atticus, We all know that these are the results of Reaganomics. The myth/lie that if we just let the rich have/keep more it would all just "trickle down". We sit here talking about a tree/art while the forest/results are right in front of us. How many jobs did the Bush tax cuts create? How many billionaires did they create? And now we are in for more of the same. Results don't matter to some. People making less than $10,000 don't contribute to political campaigns like folks who make $200,000. DogGuy, do you really think that the former vote in a higher percentage than the latter? Your "blame the victim" attitude is highly suspect!
Dog Guy
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 1:27 p.m.
Politicians, regardless of party, take great pride and satisfaction in the success of their poverty program. Poverty is imported and procreated at public expense and the taxes create direct poverty as well as unemployment. The hereditary client class thus imported, procreated, and created may be expected to vote for the incumbents who have made poverty beneficial. For politicians, satisfaction is not only in their own consequent power, prosperity, and job security. Politicians joy in disparity: their own height is magnified by the poverty, powerlessness, and insecurity of those whom their poverty program has lowered. Is the government poverty program a win-win, or what?
bugjuice
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 1:16 p.m.
I'm not railing against public art. In fact I'm all for it. I'm railing at the arrogance and condescension of elected officials who prefer that all the people who question their actions just go away. The entire fountain/AAPAC fiasco exposes the "let them eat cake" politically tone deaf nature of most of our elected officials. If it weren't for McCormick's butt kissing suggestion that because the fountain ostensibly used storm water funds (it will use treated potable water to make up any loss or lack of storm water) might be used for its construction did ears perk up on council and on the elitist AAPAC. We pay plenty for water in Ann Arbor. Storm Water and Utility funds should only be used for the Utility system and not for any art regardless of any 1% program.
Tim Darton
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 12:42 p.m.
Buggy. No argument from me, city council could certainly have pulled the plug on the art program. But, they could not have spent the money helping the less advantaged, funding the police or fire etc. without violating the law in regard to fund allocation. Money collected for a specific purpose, a dedicated millage and most especially a fee for service like utilities cannot be spent in areas like the general fund. No question about it. So, rail against public art all you want but understand that the money could have bought some more sewer pipe or a few more feet of road improvement but that's it.
bugjuice
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 12:26 p.m.
Driesetl's "art work" is based in concept on using storm water. It by this loose connection that council and the administration allowed storm water funds to be used for it's construction. And many of us are tired of being told that bureaucratic decisions were made and they cannot be changed no matter what. That is simply not true. What has been done politically done can be undone just as easily. All it takes is some gumption on council and turning some spineless votes into ones that serve the broad interest of the city instead of narrow ones that serve the elite and connected. It's not unlike being told "move along, nothing to see here" which is condescending and arrogant. Something that this council and Roger Fraser are quite practiced at doing.
Jay Thomas
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 12:06 p.m.
I don't think the people at Hikone were ever middle class. It is always the "go to" place for these stories...
Atticus F.
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 11:31 a.m.
Seems to be the trend...The rich get richer, while the middle class slide into poverty.
Tim Darton
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 11:06 a.m.
This isn't the "buckets" theory. It would be illegal for the city to take money collected from utilities fees and spend it in the general fund. This was all covered here by Ryan Stanton months ago. Utilities fees collected for water, sewer and storm water can however be spent on art so long as it is on city property and somehow related to the source of the funds, the sculpture is part of the storm water system of the police and courts building. As covered here in 2 or 3 articles, the money in the art fund absolutely cannot be spent on general fund activities like the police, fire or assisting the poor.
bugjuice
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 10:23 a.m.
Wasn't money (funds) from Utilities dept under Sue McCormick designated for Storm Water diverted to the Driesetl fountain? If certain funds can be dedicated by the policy makers (city council and the city administrator) then they can be undedicated just as easily. The "buckets" argument about where tax dollars can and cannot be spent has some holes in it.
Tim Darton
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 10:05 a.m.
Alan is so far off. Ann Arbor spends more than any other city helping the poor and homeless, it just might be that those without resources are here because they know they will be cared for. The art work and coordinator has nothing to do with it. That was covered by A2.com many months ago. The money going for art work could not, cannot be spent on helping the poor or paying for firefighters or anything like it that. It all came from dedicated funds. If a little of it from each project (1% up to $250,000) was not going to art it could have been spent on another few feet of sewer line or water pipe.
ViSHa
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 9:52 a.m.
@blahblahblah: i was wondering the same thing. i am also curious if it was a steady rise of 13% across the decade or were there spikes towards the end? statistics are not my strong suit, lol.
blahblahblah
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 9:13 a.m.
It would be interesting to know how many of the households now under $10K were existing Ann Arbor residents in 2000 versus newer arrivals.
murph
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 8:26 a.m.
A minor quibble, but after explaining that the data is based on the 2005-2009 5-year ACS survey, the article notes, "The income levels are 2009 figures compared against Census 2000 data." I believe this should read, "The income levels are figures collected over the period 2005-2009, presented in 2009 inflation-adjusted dollars, compared against Census 2000 data." Since the article uses the 5-year ACS data, they are not "2009 figures". Being clear about the data collection period is important, considering the time period involved - if we're trying to look for trends in income levels and poverty levels, we need to remember that the 2005-2009 ACS included both survey responses from last year as well as responses from 2005-2006, before the mortgage foreclosure crisis and current recession. The truly current poverty picture is probably even worse than what's presented here. The ACS does present 1-year data for areas of greater than 60,000 people (such as Washtenaw County and City of Ann Arbor), providing a narrower and more current view at those levels. These 1-year estimates, the 3-yr estimates for areas over 20,000 population, and the 5-yr estimates for all areas, along with the every 10 year Census, provide a lot more information together than just waiting 10 years between Censuses for any new information. However, that information comes with the requirement to be clear about what exactly it's measuring. For more information on the difference between the various ACS datasets and the decennial Census, and how to use each of them, look at the Census Bureau's Guidance for Data Users page. One other note, as I browse the various datasets: the article states, "In Washtenaw County, the median household income is just under $52,000, the Census numbers show." This appears to be the Census 2000 number for Washtenaw County ($51,990) as opposed to the 2005-2009 5-yr ACS ($58,807) or the 2009 1-yr ACS ($54,603).
John Reed
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 7:41 a.m.
Mr. Jesse, thank you for this eye-opening article. It shines a light on some of the more complex issues that we as a society need to grapple with.