Return to the PIE Home PageIn 1990, there were 121,475 persons (or 13.0% of the total population) below poverty in Franklin County. As the chart above indicates, poverty affects some racial groups more than others. Blacks were nearly three times as likely to experience poverty as were whites in 1990. Over the last decade the black poverty rate increased from 26.4% of the black population in 1980 to 29.3% in 1990 (or 43,451 persons), while the white poverty rate held constant at 9.6% (or 72,981 persons). Other races with poverty rates above the county average in 1990 were Asian and Pacific Islanders (22.5% below poverty), other races (19.3%) and American Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts (14.7%). This represented 4,109 Asian and Pacific Islanders, 632 persons of other races, and 302 American Indians, Eskimos and Aleuts below poverty in 1990.
The inequality between races is even more exaggerated for specific age groups. In 1990, 47.9% of black children 5 years old or under were in poverty, compared to only 12.0% of their white counterparts (i.e. 4 times as likely to be poor). Similarly, 39.0% of black children 6 to 17 years of age were below poverty, compared to 10.1% of white children of those ages.
1980 1990
Above Below % Below Above Below % Below
Race Poverty Poverty Poverty Poverty Poverty Poverty
White 636,290 67,723 9.6 690,138 72,981 9.6
0-5 yrs NA NA NA 58,311 7,974 12.0
6-17 yrs NA NA NA 99,695 11,162 10.1
18-64 yrs NA NA NA 462,337 47,656 9.3
65+ yrs NA NA NA 69,795 6,189 8.1
Black 93,364 33,550 26.4 104,955 43,451 29.3
0-5 yrs NA NA NA 9,105 8,374 47.9
6-17 yrs NA NA NA 18,629 11,898 39.0
18-64 yrs NA NA NA 69,201 20,499 22.9
65+ yrs NA NA NA 8,020 2,680 25.0
Amer. Indian
Eskimo, & Aleut 960 354 26.9 1,748 302 14.7
0-5 yrs NA NA NA 89 6 6.3
6-17 yrs NA NA NA 358 27 7.0
18-64 yrs NA NA NA 1,227 226 15.6
65+ yrs NA NA NA 74 43 36.8
Asian &
Pacfic Is. 5,565 1,533 21.6 14,178 4,109 22.5
0-5 yrs NA NA NA 1,385 561 28.8
6-17 yrs NA NA NA 1,708 705 29.2
18-64 yrs NA NA NA 9,744 2,775 22.2
65+ yrs NA NA NA 341 68 16.6
Other Races 1,577 590 27.2 2,648 632 19.3
0-5 yrs NA NA NA 415 115 21.7
6-17 yrs NA NA NA 666 158 19.2
18-64 yrs NA NA NA 1,482 349 19.1
65+ yrs NA NA NA 85 10 10.5
Total 737,756 103,750 12.3 813,667 121,475 13.0
0-5 yrs NA NA NA 69,305 17,030 19.7
6-17 yrs NA NA NA 122,056 23,950 16.4
18-64 yrs NA NA NA 543,991 71,505 11.6
65+ yrs NA NA NA 78,315 8,990 10.3
Note: Poverty status by race by age is not available from the 1980 Census.
Source: Census of Population and Housing, U.S. Bureau of the Census
Filename: CD-007