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Nov. 30, 2000 Journal Staff Report Latest figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau measuring wealth, poverty and median household income show Montezuma County as the 15th poorest of Colorado’s 63 counties, and Douglas County as the richest in the nation. According to the new numbers compiled from 1997 statistics, Montezuma County has 4,007 residents living in poverty, or 17 percent of the 23,570 total county population. Median household income is $30,882. Overall the state has 403,410 people living below the poverty line, or 10 percent of the state’s 4.3 million people, the report shows. Colorado’s median household income is estimated to be $40,853 per household. The poverty and income figures represent a statistical model based on growth and demographic data in a particular region since 1995. Every two years the Census Bureau compiles new estimates using the 1990 census as a basis. By early next year, state demographers expect to begin releasing data compiled during the 2000 census. La Plata County showed that 4,533 live in poverty or 11 percent of the population, with an average income level of $36,822. Archuleta County statistics show that 13 percent are impoverished financially, according to the report, with an income average of $30,518. Douglas County had the least amount of poverty in Colorado and the nation, reporting less than 2 percent of the population in that category, according to the latest figures. Median household income for Douglas County residents is $77,513, also the highest in the country. On the other end, Costilla County in Colorado has 33.5 percent of its people living in poverty, with a median income of $18,700. The poorest county in the nation, according to the report, is Starr County, Texas, which has 46.7 percent living in poverty, with a median household income of $14,178 per year. |
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