Red vs. Blue: Poverty

By MannyGoldstein at Thu, 2005-11-10 22:12

Bottom Line:

The states with the least poverty are blue, and the states with the most poverty are red.

Data:

State	Liberality Score [1]	Liberality Rank	Poverty. % [2]	Poverty Rank
New Hampshire	103%	18	5.7	1
Minnesota	107%	15	7	2
New Jersey	114%	13	8.2	3
Delaware	117%	11	8.5	4
Maryland	130%	5	8.6	5
Vermont	152%	3	8.8	6
Connecticut	124%	6	8.8	6
Alaska	58%	44	9.2	8
Wyoming	42%	49	9.6	9
Utah	36%	50	9.6	9
Hawaii	119%	10	9.7	11
Iowa	99%	20	9.7	11
Massachusetts	168%	1	9.8	13
Colorado	91%	24	9.8	13
Virginia	85%	27	9.8	13
Nebraska	50%	47	9.9	16
Wisconsin	101%	19	10.2	17
Nevada	95%	23	10.2	17
Indiana	65%	38	10.2	17
North Dakota	56%	45	10.3	20
Pennsylvania	105%	17	10.4	21
Idaho	44%	48	10.5	22
Kansas	59%	42	10.7	23
Ohio	96%	22	10.8	24
Missouri	86%	26	10.9	25
Rhode Island	154%	2	11.3	26
Washington	116%	12	11.7	27
Oregon	109%	14	11.7	27
Georgia	71%	34	12	29
Michigan	107%	16	12.1	30
Maine	120%	9	12.2	31
Florida	90%	25	12.3	32
Illinois	123%	7	12.5	33
South Dakota	64%	40	12.5	33
Oklahoma	53%	46	12.6	35
California	122%	8	13.2	36
Arizona	81%	29	13.8	37
South Carolina	71%	35	14	38
Montana	65%	39	14.3	39
New York	146%	4	14.4	40
North Carolina	78%	30	14.8	41
Tennessee	75%	32	14.9	42
Kentucky	67%	37	15.4	43
Alabama	59%	43	15.5	44
West Virginia	77%	31	16.1	45
Texas	63%	41	16.4	46
Louisiana	74%	33	17	47
New Mexico	98%	21	17.5	48
Arkansas	82%	28	17.6	49
Mississippi	67%	36	17.7	50

Discussion:

Quite a dramatic difference between blue and red. The seven states with the lowest percentage of people in poverty are Blue - by my calculation, the odds of this happening by random are 0.05% (less than 1 in 1,000). In stark contrast, the ten states with the highest percentage of people in poverty are all Red - the odds of that happening by random are 0.43% (less than 1 in 100)!

All in all, people in Blue States are much more likely to stay out of poverty.

References:

[1] Liberality Score for a state is the ratio of the votes received by Kerry to the votes received by Bush in the 2004 Presidential election. Data fromhttp://uselectionatlas.org/USPRESIDENT/data.php?year=2004&datatype=national&def=1&f=1

[2] Information Please Almanac, 3-Year Average 2002-2004 http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104529.html (sourced from U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplements. Poverty and Health Statistics Branch/HHES Division. Web: www.census.gov .)

Red vs. Blue: Murder, and the Death Penalty

printer-friendly version

Red vs. Blue: Poverty

All time: