Oregon Poverty Statistics By County

Sobering. Heartbreaking. Maddening. And yet ohhhhh so fixable with right thinking, open hearts and expanded consciousness.

Just out today, January 28, 2009.
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Baker—Nearly half, or 46 percent, of the county's schoolchildren qualified for free and reduced price lunch, an increase of 10 percentage points from 2000.

Benton—The number of people living in poverty increased 41 percent over its 2000 level.

Clackamas—The poverty rate increased from 6.6 to 9.5 percent, a sharp rate of increase that affected 13,498 more people than in 2000.

Clatsop—Forty percent of households headed by single mothers lived in poverty.

Columbia—Three quarters of the people identified as homeless attributed their homelessness to unaffordable rents.

Coos—Fifty-four percent of families headed by single mothers lived in poverty.

Crook—Poverty increased four percentage points between 2000 and 2007.

Curry—Two-thirds of families in poverty had children younger than 18.

Deschutes—Deschutes County families needed incomes of more than twice the federal poverty level just to pay for a basic family budget.

Douglas–Poverty in the county increased from 13.1 percent in 2000 to 14.3 percent in 2007.

Gilliam—The number of people receiving food stamp benefits grew from 11 percent of the county population in 2004 to 14 percent in 2007.

Grant—Nearly half of all public school students qualified for free or reduced-price lunches.

Harney—Fourteen percent of people age 65 and older lived in poverty, significantly higher than the state average of 8 percent for that age group.

Hood River—More than 3,000 Hood River County residents lived below the poverty line in 2007, or 14.5 percent of the population.

Jackson—The number of children receiving free and reduced-price lunches grew eight percentage points between 2000 and 2007 to 42 percent of all students.

Jefferson—Poverty in Jefferson County reached 18 percent of the population in 2007, with one-quarter of the county's children living in poverty.

Josephine—Fifty-seven percent of households with children under 18 and headed by single women lived in poverty.

Klamath— One quarter of all children lived in poverty in Klamath County in 2007.

Lake—Twenty-two percent of the county's population enrolled in the federal food stamp program.

Lane—Half of all low-income households spent more than 30 percent of household income on housing.

Lincoln— Between 2000 and 2007, the population in poverty in Lincoln County increased 30 percent

Linn—A single-parent with a preschool-aged child needed to make more than $15 an hour to afford child care, healthcare, transportation and other necessities.

Malheur—Twenty-three percent of Malheur County's children lived in poverty in 2007.

Marion—Twenty percent of Marion County children lived in poverty in 2007.

Morrow—Sixty-five percent of Morrow County students qualified for free or reduced-priced lunch in 2007, up from 49 percent in 2000.

Multnomah—Nearly 30 percent of Multnomah County residents with disabilities lived in poverty.

Polk—Among the Polk County residents identified as homeless in 2008, 78 percent attributed their homelessness to unaffordable rent.

Sherman—Sherman County had no primary health care providers.

Tillamook—Fifty-two percent of Tillamook County's school children received free and reduced-price lunches in 2007, up from 43 percent in 2000.

Umatilla—A two-parent family with one child needed a combined hourly income of $16.56 to pay for basic expenses. Two adults working full-time at minimum wage did not earn an adequate income.

Union—From 2005 to 2007, poverty averaged 16 percent for the population of Union County. This rate reached 23 percent for people with disabilities.

Wallowa—One in five children in Wallowa County lived in poverty in 2007.

Wasco–An alarming 27 percent of Wasco County residents with disabilities live in poverty.

Washington—Washington County faced some of the highest costs in the state. A single parent of a preschooler needed to earn $16.90 and hour to afford necessities such as housing, food and childcare.

Wheeler—Nearly two-thirds of Wheeler County school children received free or reduced-price lunches.

Yamhill—A single mother with a young child needed to make $31,620 a year to pay for the basics; more than she would make at the county's typical entry-level job.