The 2007 median income in Michigan was $47,950, down 1.2 percent or $596 from the 2006 median of $48,546. The state's nationwide ranking slid from 24th to 27th.
They also showed Michigan's rate of "extreme poverty" -- a yearly income of less than half the poverty threshold, or $10,325 for a family of four -- jumped from 6 percent in 2006 to 6.5 percent last year. Eight years ago, the rate was 4.8 percent.
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Michigan income down, poverty having best year ever
Impact of economic restructuring shows up in state's rate of 14%; in Detroit, 1 in 3 residents is poor.
Poverty rose across Michigan last year while incomes fell for the third year in a row, according to new data that reveal the widening impact of the state's economic restructuring.
The Census Bureau reported on Tuesday that Michigan's poverty rate crept up to 14 percent, a percentage point above the national rate that it had mirrored in previous years. But the state's poorest cities fared even worse: An estimated one in three Detroiters is in poverty, making the city the poorest large city in the country.
Flint and Kalamazoo, each at 35.5 percent, were even higher.
In the face of an increase in demand, social service agencies are fighting a battle at the other end as well, officials said: donations are down.
That's not surprising given that Michigan's income fell, pushing its rank to 27th in the nation, down from 24th in 2006; it had been 19th in 2003. Only South Dakota, Kentucky and New Mexico also saw incomes fall in 2007. Michigan was the only state that saw both a rise in poverty and decline in income.
Nationally, income rose 1.3 percent in 2007. Maryland, at $68,080, had the nation's highest median household income, well above the national median of $50,740.
Median household income in Michigan, once among the leaders nationwide, was pegged at $47,950 in 2007, which is below the inflation-adjusted 2006 level of $48,521.
Indeed, an estimated 47.8 percent of Detroit children under 18 live below the poverty line -- estimated at $21,027 for a family of four with two children. A year earlier, the city's poverty rate was 43.9 percent. Statewide, the percentage of children in poverty also rose, to 19.4 percent, well above the national rate of 18 percent.
Although the national economy has struggled for over a year, Michigan families have been dealing with the loss of thousands of good-paying jobs for several years as buyouts and layoffs have hammered the auto manufacturers. And many of the replacement jobs often pay half the wages.
Finding a solution .... will require diversifying the economy to minimize the impact of downturns in the auto industry. The state needs to keep its focus on tapping into its high tech and skilled engineering resources and its burgeoning life-science companies.
That's bad news for cities like Detroit.
Meanwhile, the Census data also showed that women both in Michigan and the nation closed the gap on men in regard to income. In Michigan, female full-time workers had median earnings of $34,849, or nearly 72 percent of male full-time workers, up from 70 percent in 2005.
Over the last three years, women have earnings that, adjusted for inflation, are nearly 1 percent lower than in 2005. But the median earnings for men fell farther: 3.4 percent.
The Census released income and poverty figures for the nation, states and counties, cities and metro areas with populations greater than 65,000. The results are based on surveys of 3 million households.
There were a few bright spots for the state. The ranks of those without health insurance fell slightly, down to 10.8 percent during the last three years. Michigan is well below the national rate of 15.4 percent.
Senior citizens also got good news: They continued to do better than the nation, with just 8 percent of those 65 and older in poverty, below the national rate of 9.5 percent.
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Welcome to Detroit
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