Posted on 08/29/2006 10:25:01 PM PDT by Coleus
New Jersey again has the highest household income of any state and one of the lowest poverty rates, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau, but two of its biggest cities are among the poorest in the nation.
Camden ranks as the poorest place in the country with a population over 65,000 and Newark is among the poorest cities with more than 250,000 people, according to the figures released Tuesday based on data for 2005.
The numbers illustrate that New Jersey, with its middle-class and wealthy suburbs nestled up against struggling, old industrial cities, continues to be a place of stark economic contrasts. On the whole, the state has high incomes, along with a high cost of living. Half the households make more than $61,672 per year - putting the Garden State just ahead of Connecticut as the nation's richest. And the poverty rate of 8.7 percent is lower than every state except for New Hampshire, Maryland and Connecticut.
The census income report a year ago found New Jersey's poverty rate slightly lower - 8.5 percent. But Legal Services of New Jersey Poverty Research Institute on Tuesday said its own analysis, which took into account the high cost of living, shows that more than one in five state residents are impoverished. Despite that, Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset and Burlington counties are all among those with the lowest poverty rates in the country and Hunterdon, Somerset, and Morris all rank among the highest-income places in the nation. Among all the counties across the country with populations over 65,000, only two - Loudon, Va., and Fairfax, Va. - have median household incomes higher than those in Hunterdon.
A seat of the pharmaceutical industry with many residents who commute to New York, the county north of Trenton sees half its households bring in more than $93,342 per year. Yet, among large cities nationally, only six have lower incomes than Newark, where the median household income was $30,665.
In Camden, 44 percent of the roughly 80,000 residents live in poverty - the highest such rate in the nation, according to the study. The median household income in the city is $18,007, which is the nation's lowest. The gritty city near Philadelphia, where the state has been trying to jump-start redevelopment efforts, is no stranger to studies that portray life there as harsher than in other cities with tough reputations. One research firm found in 2004 and 2005 that the city was the nation's most dangerous.
So, the richest state is also the ugliest state. Very interesting. Maybe all of those rich folks should spend some money fixing up The Garden Dump.
Owing to the dysfunctionality of the black community.
It might as well be on Mars.
The only accurate measure of wealth across the 50 states is median net family worth (assets minus liabilities).
A perfect liberal state. Corvee Labor ready. Believe me if the Elite Liberals ever get their way we will all be living in NJ.
Don't never, ever go into the shitty city of Camden, day or night. Ever. Never.
My Class III weapons would hardly make a dent, in trying to save my own life, there. 'Nuke and re-pave' comes to mind...
I've driven through New Jersey. Not very impressed. I remember, it was all industrial areas. Newark is the worst.
"Luckily, Camden is also the easiest city in America to avoid visiting."
years ago I heard Camden referred to as the plywood storefront capital of America
Because a big percentage of the wealthy who work in Manhattan each day live in New Jersey so they can have big homes with yards.
This is where this big influx of money comes from.
Actually, New Jersey has some very attractive areas. The problem is that fully half the state is nothing but weeds growing out of a sand bar.
Pennsylvania should donate Philadelphia to New Jersey. It would improve both states.
They have got the liberal way of life perfected there.
They keep voting to raise taxes, which winnows out the "undesirables" that they shove in poor areas.
It's a creative way to practice discrimation. Basically, they can pass all the pc laws they want, but they've basically just priced all those nasty types away from their very white, very wealthy homes.
I knew you were from New Jersey by what you wrote..."very high cost of living and one of the heaviest tax burdens."...yup, that's New Jersey!
I made the mistake of driving through some of the bad parts of Newark once. It was like playing a real-life game of Quake only I didn't have any weapons at my disposal. So I gunned the engine, locked the car doors and hauled butt out of there.
A terrific example is Atlantic City, or at least it was about 10 years ago, the last time I was there... It was The Boardwalk, and a bunch of highrise casinos in the middle of a slum.
Mark
How would someone from 3000 miles away have any idea what NJ looks like? You've been to Newark airport once?
NJ sucks in a lot of ways, but not it's not ugly. Know what you're talking about before you open your mouth.
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