North Dakota’s Poverty Rate Sees Little Change in 2004

Certain populations in North Dakota are harder hit by poverty than others.

North Dakota’s Poverty Rate Sees Little Change in 2004

Approximately one in 10 North Dakotans was living in poverty in 2004, a rate relatively unchanged from 2003, but down slightly from 1998, when one in eight people was living in poverty.

This month’s "Population Bulletin," a monthly publication from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University, focuses on poverty estimates released from the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program through the U.S. Census Bureau. SAIPE provides annual estimates of the number and percentage of people and children living in poverty. These estimates are based on a sample of households.

Due to the relatively small population base in North Dakota and the need to keep the costs of data collection manageable, the sample sizes for the state are relatively small, which increases the likelihood of error. Therefore, confidence intervals are calculated to account for this sampling error.

For example, SAIPE estimates indicate that 10.8 percent of North Dakotans were living in poverty in 2004. However, if one wants to be 90 percent confident of the true poverty level, one should use a range of 9.9 percent to 11.8 percent.

Certain populations in North Dakota are harder hit by poverty than others. Children had a greater likelihood for poverty than the general public. The percentage of North Dakota children ages 0 to 17 living in poverty was estimated at 13.5 percent in 2004 and the percentage of children ages 0 to 4 living in poverty was 18 percent.

In addition, poverty rates in North Dakota were notably higher on Indian reservations, with Sioux, Rolette and Benson counties averaging one in four people living in poverty in 2004.

“Although our state has been successful in lowering its poverty rate during the past 10 years, we need to continue our efforts in reducing the barriers to self-sufficiency,” says Richard Rathge, State Data Center director. “The fact that nearly one in five of our preschoolers is living below the poverty threshold should be a call to action.”

When making important decisions based on these data, one needs to be mindful of the confidence intervals (11.8 percent to 15.3 percent for children ages 0 to 17 and 14.8 percent to 21.2 percent for children ages 0 to 4).

Nationally, the 2004 poverty rate was 12.7 percent overall, 17.8 percent children ages 0 to 17 and 20.5 percent children ages 0 to 4 (90 percent confidence intervals are 12.5 percent to 13 percent, 17.3 percent to 18.3 percent and 19.5 percent to 21.5 percent, respectively).

NDSU Agriculture Communication