These 3 Maps Show Where the Great Recession Hit Hardest

The Great Recession hit many Americans hard—but the impact didn’t spread equally across the U.S.

According to the latest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday, poverty rates in Florida, the Mountain West, the Midwest and the Northeast have risen after the Great Recession, as median household income and homeownership rates in those areas declined significantly.

“The mortgage meltdown coupled with the job bust hit some places very hard,” said Brookings Institution demographer William Frey. Florida, Arizona, Nevada and much of California, Frey says, struggled more from the crash of the housing market than other regions in part due to years of growth in residential areas before the recession. The Midwest was likely affected more by job losses in industrial sectors, Frey said, while the Northeast was likely hit by a combination unemployment and housing foreclosures.

Below are three Census maps showing the percentage change county-by-county from before and after the recession concerning household income, home ownership and poverty rates.