Report: Shelby County, Memphis poverty increases despite good economy
Poverty rates for Memphis and Shelby County rose in the past year despite a strong statewide economy and even as Hispanic residents made significant progress, according to a report based on the latest Census figures.
Memphis’ poverty rate was 27.8% for 2018, up from 24.6% the previous year. That number leaves Memphis several percentage points below Detroit’s poverty rate of 33.4%, but experts say it's still troubling.
“That does not mean that Memphis is doing well," said the report by Elena Delavega of the University of Memphis School of Social Work and Gregory Blumenthal of GMBS Consulting. "Memphis is backtracking. We do not have anything to be proud of."
In Shelby County as a whole, the poverty rate rose from to 21.7% from 18.8% in 2017.
For comparison, the 2018 number for the U.S. is 12.3%. For Tennessee, the poverty rate stands at 11.5% and the Greater Memphis area — which includes sections of Mississippi and Arkansas — is 18.8%.
The report notes that the local figures run “contrary to what is happening in the United States overall and in Tennessee. It appears Memphis is again moving in the opposite and undesirable direction as the rest of the country, with increasing poverty rates for all groups, including non-Hispanic white.”
Non-Hispanic black residents in Memphis living in poverty increased to 33.8% from 28.9% and from 25.4% to 30.5% in Shelby County. The percentage of non-Hispanic whites in poverty in Memphis went down from 12.3% to 11.8% but up from 8% to 8.6% in Shelby County as a whole.
Hispanics in Memphis saw a drop from 33.3% to 28.8%. In Shelby County, Hispanics in poverty decreased from 30.1% to 24%.
The report notes the decrease in poverty among Hispanics could have been caused by federal raids against immigrants, which might have resulted in many Hispanics refusing to answer the Census or surveys or possibly because they left the area.
“However, a closer examination reveals that the total number of Hispanics in Memphis has decreased by a much smaller percent than the number of Hispanics in poverty,” the report states.
More importantly, Shelby County’s total Hispanic population increased to 60,062 in 2018 from 58,418 the previous year. The Hispanic population above poverty increased to 45,625 from 40,814 while the Hispanic population below poverty decreased to 14,437 from 17,604, according to the report.
In Memphis, the total Hispanic population dipped to 44,008 in 2018 from 49,317 the previous year. Hispanics above poverty fell to 31,317 from 32,908, while those below poverty dipped to 12,691 from 16,409 inside the city limits.
“The authors take this to mean that Hispanics overall are doing better financially in the Memphis area, but they are moving to the suburban areas (such as Germantown and Collierville) when their income increases. Alternately, more educated Hispanics are moving into the area,” the report states.
The report’s authors speculate that Hispanic families are likely moving to suburban Memphis for education purposes.
“The authors have observed over years of research and experience that Hispanic families are very interested in education, very involved with schools and very invested in providing a good education to their children,” the report states. “As a result, Hispanic families are more likely to move to areas with good schools, particularly as their incomes increase and they are able to afford to do so.”
To date, though, the authors have not looked at enrollment data at area schools.
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Elena Delavega Greg BlumenthalSam Stockard
Sam Stockard is a Nashville-based reporter with more than 30 years of journalism experience as a writer, editor and columnist covering the state Legislature and Tennessee politics for The Daily Memphian.
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