There was only a very slight change in Connecticut’s poverty rate between 2013 and 2014, according to new figures released by the American Community Survey.
Despite the tiny rise (from 10.7 to 10.8 percent), the state actually moved up in the ranking of state’s with the smallest percentage of residents in poverty from fourth to third. However, the estimate has a margin of error of 0.4 percent. So overall, the change is statistically insignificant.
As a whole, poverty and child poverty rates fell significantly in the United States.
| County | Total | Under 18 years | White | Black | Asian | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield County | 8.90% | 11.50% | 6.20% | 17.60% | 5.40% | 19% |
| Hartford County | 12.20% | 17.90% | 8.50% | 21.80% | 5.70% | 32.70% |
| Litchfield County | 7.50% | 7.50% | 7.20% | 16% | ||
| Middlesex County | 8.40% | 11.50% | 7.80% | 24.70% | 13.90% | |
| New Haven County | 13.10% | 18.30% | 10% | 22.90% | 10% | 29.20% |
| New London County | 11.30% | 19.30% | 9.40% | 19.80% | 5.60% | 37.40% |
| Tolland County | 7.30% | 5.50% | 6.70% | |||
| Windham County | 8.70% | 11.90% | 7.10% | 29.20% |
For poverty, there’s still a disparity by race and ethnicity. Blacks and Hispanics had a much higher poverty rate (20.8 percent and 26.5 percent respectively) than white residents (6 percent).
New Haven County had the highest proportion of residents in poverty at 13 percent.
Tolland had the least with 7 percent. New London County had the highest ratio of people younger than 18 in poverty.
For a longer look back at child poverty estimates in Connecticut and the nation, check out the report from Connecticut Voices for Children.
In Mississippi, the percent of people in poverty shrank the most between 2013 and 2014.
| County | Total | Younger than 18 | White | Black | Asian | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield County | -0.7 | -0.4 | -0.1 | -2.9 | -7.3 | 0.4 |
| Hartford County | 0 | -0.1 | 0 | 2.9 | -4.1 | 1.1 |
| Litchfield County | 0.8 | -0.4 | 1.4 | -12.4 | ||
| Middlesex County | 1 | 4.4 | 1.5 | 3.6 | ||
| New Haven County | 0.2 | 0.6 | -0.1 | 1.9 | -3.9 | 1.5 |
| New London County | 2.3 | 6.4 | 2 | 2.2 | 11.5 | |
| Tolland County | 2 | 0 | 1.8 | |||
| Windham County | -5.2 | -9.2 | -4.6 | -12 |
There weren’t many statistically significant changes in poverty between 2013 and 2014 by county in Connecticut.
However, there was a large drop in poverty for Hispanic residents in Litchfield County and an increase in New London County.