The poverty rate is the percentage of people living below the poverty level or “threshold.” Each year, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget establishes a series of poverty thresholds for different family sizes and ages of household heads.
Among Owyhee's residents, the poverty rate for people under 18 . . .
- was 19.7 percent in 2021, 20.8 percent in 1999, and 34.5 percent in 1989;
- was 19.7 percent compared to 12.5 percent in Idaho in 2021;
- ranked 10th - from highest to lowest - out of the 44 counties in 2021.
These next data come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. They are based on averages of data collected in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. These estimates cannot be used to say what is going on in any particular year in the period, only what the average value is over the full period. The Census Bureau's data.census.gov provides 3-year estimates for counties with at 20,000 people, and 1-year estimates for counties with at least 65,000 people. We use 5-year estimates because they are available for all counties and allow comparison to other counties within the region.
The poverty rate for the youngest children, those under age 5 . . .
- was 17.1 percent in 2016-2020 compared to 26.3 percent in 1999;
- was 17.1 percent in 2016-2020 compared to 17.6 percent in Idaho;
- ranked 28th - from highest to lowest - out of the 44 counties in 2016-2020.
The rate for people 65 and over . . .
- was 9.4 percent in 2016-2020 and 12.1 percent in 1999;
- was 9.4 percent compared to 7.9 percent in Idaho in 2016-2020;
- ranked 15th - from highest to lowest - out of the 44 counties in 2016-2020.