# Persistent poverty county

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Classification for United States counties

A map of the United States highlighting counties defined as "persistent poverty counties."

See also: [Cycle of poverty](/source/Cycle_of_poverty)

A **persistent poverty county** is a classification for [counties](/source/County_(United_States)) in the United States that have had a relatively high rate of [poverty](/source/Poverty) over a long period.

A 2009 [U.S. federal law](/source/U.S._federal_law) defined a persistent poverty county as one in which "20 percent or more of its population [has lived] in poverty over the past 30 years" according to the [Census](/source/US_Census), which is done every 10 years.[1] The [Economic Research Service](/source/Economic_Research_Service) (ERS) of the [U.S. Department of Agriculture](/source/U.S._Department_of_Agriculture) categorizes non-metropolitan counties by their dominant economic foundation and by characteristic policy type. Persistent poverty counties are defined as those where 20% or more of the county population in each of the last four decennial Censuses had poverty level household incomes.[2]

In 2000, there were 386 such counties concentrated largely in the [Delta](/source/Mississippi_Delta) South, Central [Appalachia](/source/Appalachia), [Rio Grande Valley](/source/Rio_Grande_Valley), the Northern [Great Plains](/source/Great_Plains), and western [Alaska](/source/Alaska). The average poverty rate in these counties was approximately 29% in 1989.

A 2020 [GAO](/source/GAO) study identified 409 persistent poverty counties, as measured by the 1990 and 2000 censuses and the 2017 Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates.[3] These counties are largely rural and predominantly located in the [Southern United States](/source/Southern_United_States).

Many of these counties are served by the [Delta Regional Authority](/source/Delta_Regional_Authority) or [Appalachian Regional Commission](/source/Appalachian_Regional_Commission).

This data does not include unincorporated [territories of the United States](/source/Territories_of_the_United_States).

## See also

- [Poverty in the United States](/source/Poverty_in_the_United_States)

- [List of lowest-income places in the United States](/source/List_of_lowest-income_places_in_the_United_States)

- [List of lowest-income counties in the United States](/source/List_of_lowest-income_counties_in_the_United_States)

- [List of U.S. states by minimum wage](/source/List_of_U.S._states_by_minimum_wage)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (110th Congress Public Law 111-5)"](https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-111publ5). U.S. Government Printing Office. February 17, 2009. Retrieved 2012-10-07.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America: Documentation"](https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/atlas-of-rural-and-small-town-america/documentation). Economic Research Service. July 16, 2020. Retrieved 2012-10-07.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Targeting Federal Funds: Information on Funding to Areas with Persistent or High Poverty"](https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-20-518). U.S. Governmental Accountability Office. July 16, 2020.

- This article incorporates [public domain material](/source/Copyright_status_of_works_by_the_federal_government_of_the_United_States) from Jasper Womach. [*Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition*](http://ncseonline.org/nle/crsreports/05jun/97-905.pdf) (PDF). [Congressional Research Service](/source/Congressional_Research_Service).

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