Special Report

This Is the City Hit Hardest by Extreme Poverty in Illinois

Samuel Stebbins

Published: September 20, 2021 8:00 am

Last Updated: September 20, 2021 9:29 am

There are an estimated 39.5 million Americans living below the poverty line, which, in the lower 48 states, is an annual income threshold of $12,880 for an individual and $26,500 for a family of four (Alaska and Hawaii have a slightly higher threshold). Living in poverty can have serious consequences and impacts nearly every aspect of life — and those problems can be compounded for those who are facing poverty while also living in very poor neighborhoods.

Residents of poor neighborhoods often struggle with higher crime rates, limited employment opportunities, lower school quality, and poor health outcomes. For those living on poverty level income, each of these factors reduces the likelihood of upward economic mobility.

There are 10 metropolitan areas in Illinois, and of them, Danville has the highest concentrated poverty rate not distorted by a large college and university student population. More than one in every five Danville residents living below the poverty line are living in neighborhoods where at least 40% of the population also lives in poverty.

Economic opportunity is typically scarce in areas with concentrated poverty. Across Danville’s poorest neighborhoods, an average of 9.2% of the labor force have been unemployed over the last five years, compared to the 6.4% jobless rate in the rest of the metro area.

All data used in this story are five-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey. We only considered census tracts, or neighborhoods, with at least 500 people and college or graduate school enrollment below 50%. Metro areas were also excluded if over 25% of the population in tracts or neighborhoods of concentrated poverty were college or university students.