Skip to content
  • Chicago Reporter
  • Chicago Reporter
  • Topics
    • Child and Family
    • Coronavirus
    • Criminal Justice
    • Education
    • Employment and Labor
    • Government and Politics
    • Health
    • Housing
    • Immigration
    • Race and Culture
    • Transportation
  • Perspectives
    • Curtis Black: The Powers That Be
  • About
    • Our History
    • Our Staff
    • Our Supporters
    • Awards
  • Archive
    • Search the Archive, 1972-present
    • Catalyst Issues
    • Reporter Issues
  • Donate
  • Subscribe

Chicago Reporter - Investigating race and poverty since 1972

Support NonProfit News

Donate Now

Chicago Reporter (https://www.chicagoreporter.com/black-chicagoans-most-likely-to-live-in-deep-poverty/)

  • Topics
    • Child and Family
    • Coronavirus
    • Criminal Justice
    • Education
    • Employment and Labor
    • Government and Politics
    • Health
    • Housing
    • Immigration
    • Race and Culture
    • Transportation
  • Perspectives
    • Curtis Black: The Powers That Be
  • About
    • Our History
    • Our Staff
    • Our Supporters
    • Awards
  • Archive
    • Search the Archive, 1972-present
    • Catalyst Issues
    • Reporter Issues
  • Donate
  • Subscribe
  • We Recommend:
  • See all of our COVID-19 coverage
  • ¿Cómo afecta COVID-19 a su barrio en Illinois?
  • Coronavirus en Illinois: mapa actualizado diariamente
Poverty

Black Chicagoans most likely to live in deep poverty

By Adeshina Emmanuel Adeshina Emmanuel | October 6, 2015
More
  • More on Poverty
  • Subscribe to Poverty

Photo by Stacey Rupolo

A boarded-up house stands among other homes on West Washington Boulevard in West Garfield Park on October 5, 2015.

In Chicago, about 274,000 people this year—or 10 percent of the city’s population—live in deep poverty. Their income is less than half of the federal poverty line, according to recently released statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2015 terms, that is $5,885 a year for an individual or less than $12,125 for a family of four.

Deep poverty is both widespread across the city and concentrated in predominately African-American neighborhoods. Seven Chicago communities, all of them predominately black, have the highest percentage of residents living in deep poverty, according to an analysis of Census data by the Social IMPACT Research Center at Heartland Alliance, an anti-poverty organization in Chicago.

Of Chicago’s 800 census tracts, 40 percent have deep poverty rates above the city average. Nearly two-thirds of tracts with above average rates have predominately black populations, including tract 3504, which includes the Dearborn Homes public housing project in Bronzeville. The tract has the highest deep poverty rate in the city, about 50 percent of its residents.

The map above illustrates a block-to-block picture of deep poverty, but calculating deep poverty by neighborhood shows which community areas struggle the most. Last year, an analysis of 2008-2012 poverty data showed that the following neighborhoods had more than 1 in 5 residents living in deep poverty: Burnside, Riverdale, Englewood, East Garfield Park, North Lawndale, Washington Park and West Garfield Park. Burnside had the highest deep poverty rate of any Chicago neighborhood, with about 35 percent of residents living in deep poverty.

 

Want more stories like this?

Get the latest from the Reporter delivered straight to your inbox.
Subscribe to our free email newsletter.

SIGN UP
More
  • More on Poverty
  • Subscribe to Poverty

About Adeshina Emmanuel

Adeshina Emmanuel

Adeshina is a former reporter for The Chicago Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @ Public_Ade.

  • More by Adeshina

Related Stories

  • A community out in the cold

    Even during the winter, home for some Chicagoans is a viaduct or a park bench.

  • Jobless in Chicago’s financial district

    The city’s unemployed can be seen throughout Chicago’s downtown, but in many ways, they are invisible.

  • New Census data shows persistence of poverty in Chicago

    One in three African Americans in Chicago live in poverty. African Americans are three times as likely as whites to be living in deep poverty—below 50 percent of the federal poverty line.

Illinois coronavirus tracker

Illinois coronavirus tracker

About The Chicago Reporter

Founded on the heels of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, The Chicago Reporter confronts racial and economic inequality, using the power of investigative journalism. Our mission is national but grounded in Chicago, one of the most segregated cities in the nation and a bellwether for urban policies.

Email Newsletter

Keep up with The Chicago Reporter. Sign up for our eNewsletter.

Contact us

Got a news tip or a story you want us to cover? Email us at tcr@chicagoreporter.com.
Tweets by @ChicagoReporter
Chicago Reporter

logo-1-reverse-1

logo-1-reverse-1

About Chicago Reporter

Founded on the heels of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, The Chicago Reporter confronts racial and economic inequality, using the power of investigative journalism. Our mission is national but grounded in Chicago, one of the most segregated cities in the nation and a bellwether for urban policies.

  • About
  • Our Staff
  • Archive
  • Multimedia
  • Settling for Misconduct
  • Subscribe
  • Donate

The Chicago Reporter 111 W. Jackson Blvd., Suite 820 | Chicago, IL 60604 | (312) 427-4830 | tcr@chicagoreporter.com

The Chicago Reporter is a publication of the Community Renewal Society, a faith-based organization founded in 1882.

Copyright ©2021 Community Renewal Society | Terms of Use

Chicago Reporter is a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News

Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Back to top ↑