Andy Barnette, Rishi Jindal, Beverly Mielke, Brad Quarton, Catherine Tran

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Are Racial Differences in Economic Status More
Dramatic in Rural America?

• Andy Barnette, Rishi Jindal, Beverly Mielke,
  Brad Quarton, Catherine Tran

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Census Definition of Urban

• Urban is defined as core census block groups or
  blocks that have a population density of at least
  1,000 people per square mile and surrounding
  census blocks that have an overall density of at
  least 500 people per square mile.

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Census Definition of Rural

• Rural consists of all territory, population, and
  housing units located outside of urban areas and
  urban clusters.

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Why Choose California?

• Large, diverse population
• Different types of residential areas
• Significance to us

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County Populations
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Economic Status Indicators

• Income
• Labor Force Participation by Sex
• Educational Attainment
• Poverty Rates
• Housing

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Income

• Median income vs. per capita income
• Whites consistently have incomes higher than
  median household and per capita incomes in all
  four counties
• The median household and per capita incomes of
  Blacks and Hispanics are lower than the average
  levels
• Income levels for Asians fluctuate depending on
  the county

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Labor Force Participation by Sex Overview

• Percent labor force participation (LFP) includes
  people in the armed forces and both employed and
  unemployed civilians.
• In the US, 70.7 of males over age 16 are in the
  labor force. 57.5 of females are in the labor
  force.
• In urban areas, 64.1 of people are in the labor
  force compared to 63.1 in rural areas1.
• In urban areas, 57.8 of females are in the labor
  force compared to 56.4 in rural areas.
• So overall, a slightly higher percentage of
  people are in the labor force in urban areas.

1Data on males alone not available.
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Sex by Employment Status for the Population 16
years and Over

• Table shows percent labor force participation

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LFP Summary for Our Counties

• Urban whites, both male and female, have higher
  LFP rates than urban non-whites.
• Rural white males have higher LFP rates than
  rural non-white males. Rural white and non-white
  females have the same LFP rates.

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Educational Attainment

• One economic indicator is education level
  attained by a group
• Here we will compare the percentage of one group
  in a county that has a certain degree to the
  percentage of another group in the county that
  has the same degree
• Racial differences compared by subtracting
  groups percentages and comparing them for
  counties

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Education summary

• the White-Black and White-Hispanic gaps show
  larger disparities in urban areas
• W-B and W-H gaps much larger for bachelor and
  professional degrees
• White-Asian gaps show that Asians more educated
  in urban areas and gaps for higher degrees larger
  in urban areas
• Black-Hispanic gaps for higher degrees are larger
  in urban area, but rural gaps larger for HS
  degree

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Income Poverty
On the national level, poverty remained 2
percentage points higher in Non-Metro Areas than
in Metro Areas with over 14 percent of the
Non-Metro population living below the poverty
line.
Of the 2,276 Non-Metro counties, 535 of them,
representing 18.5 percent of the population are
described as Persistent-Poverty Counties
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Income Poverty at Home1
Source 2000 Census
Source 2000 Census
1 at Home California
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Poverty in sum

• Generally, all races have a higher percentage of
  people below the poverty line in rural areas,
  consistent with national trends.
• In our sample,differences in poverty rates among
  races are sometimes more dramatic in rural areas
  than in urban areas.

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Housing

• Issues related to both housing adequacy and
  affordability continue to affect a substantial
  number of rural households. The extent and type
  of housing disadvantage varies widely across
  race, and some population groups face greater
  housing difficulties than others

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Physical Characteristics
Percentage of Households Lacking Complete
Plumbing Facilities
Percentage of Households Lacking Complete Kitchen
Facilities
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Well-Being Characteristics
Percentage of Overcrowded Households
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Financial Characteristics
Median Gross Rent as a Percentage of Household
Income
Differences in Median Housing Unit Value
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Housing Summary

• For some of the housing characteristics examined
  differences do exist between rural and urban
  areas of California. However, for some of the
  other characteristics examined differences do not
  exist between rural and urban areas of
  California. Therefore we cannot definitively say
  that, in terms of housing, there are dramatic
  differences in economic status.

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Wrapping it all up

• Income shows that gaps vary depending on race and
  area Blacks and Hispanics are better off in
  rural areas, but Asians better off in urban, so
  somewhat inconclusive
• Labor force participation rates are higher for
  Whites in urban and rural areas than for
  non-Whites, but gaps are inconclusive
• Educational attainment gaps by race were
  definitely greater for college degrees in urban
  areas, but not necessarily for high school
• Differences in poverty rates are generally higher
  in rural areas, but definitely not conclusive
  results
• Housing differences by race vary by the
  characteristic you compare, so inconclusive as
  well

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Why is the data inconclusive???

• Sample size?
• Census definitions?
• Indicators used?
• .
• Thank you and goodnight.