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.
- Meet TIME’s Newest Class of Next Generation Leaders
- After Visiting Both Ends of the Earth, I Realized How Much Trouble We’re In
- Google Is Making It Easier to Remove Personal Info From Search
- Oil Companies Posted Huge Profits. Here’s Where The Cash Will Go (Hint: Not Climate)
- Column: We Asked Hundreds of Americans About Abortion. Their Feelings Were Complicated
- A Short History of the Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of the Marcos Family
- Long-Lasting Birth Control Is Already Hard to Get. Advocates Worry It May Only Get Worse
- Who Should Be on the 2022 TIME100? Vote Now