Connecticut’s median household income fell statewide from $68,174 in 2009 to $64, 032 in 2010. The state’s 6.1 percent drop in median income was the second largest in the nation, according to new U.S. Census data.
In addition to declining median income, poverty is also on the rise.
An estimated 350,145 Connecticut residents has incomes under the federal poverty level. The increase to 10.1 percent in 2010 is up from 9.4 percent in 2009.
The federal poverty level for a two-parent household with two children was $22,113 in 2010.
Connecticut Voices for Children, a research-based advocacy group, analyzed the data and there was a significant increase in poverty among all Connecticut residents over the decade, rising from 7.3 percent in 2001 to 10.1 percent in 2010.
Estimates of poverty rates varied significantly across Connecticut’s cities: Bridgeport (23.1 percent), Danbury (11.6 percent), Hartford (31.2 percent), New Britain (22.0 percent), New Haven (29.7 percent), Norwalk (7.3 percent), Stamford (12.1 percent), and Waterbury (21.0 percent).
Statewide, the poverty rate for Hispanics (23.6 percent) and African Americans (22.1 percent) was significantly higher than the rate for White, non-Hispanic residents (5.9 percent).
“Connecticut’s rising poverty, falling income, and high unemployment reinforce the need for state policymakers to develop a statewide plan to create good-paying jobs and to restart our economic engine,” Jamey Bell, Executive Director at Connecticut Voices for Children, said.
The group called on state policymakers to reinvigorate job growth in the state during the upcoming special legislative session on jobs by creating a comprehensive economic plan, investing in education and physical infrastructure, and reducing the high costs of living and doing business in the state.