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Other articles in Part 3 Working poor dominate poverty rolls Graphs: poverty rate trends; poverty and education; geographic area Women and children most likely to be poor Most poor people don't stay that way Graphs: poverty rate by race, ethnicity; age; household Oregon's children and poverty Elders face poverty as they grow older Disability and chronic poverty Poverty and minorities

Suburbs thrive; cities, rural areas fall behind story by Theresa Novak The highest poverty rates in Oregon are spread across rural areas and concentrated in small pockets in the core of almost every city. Poverty is lowest on the suburban fringes of those cities. (See maps on this page.) This geographic pattern of poverty is repeated across the United States, according to a study by Tom Hirschl of Cornell University. His study of 1997 U.S. Census data placed the national poverty rate for central cities at 19 percent, rural areas at 16 percent and the suburbs at 9 percent. For the sake of comparison, consider two counties where poverty and plenty share a common border: suburban Clackamas County's eastern border abuts rural Hood River County. Economically, the counties share little else. Clackamas County residents earned an average annual wage of $27,219 in 1996, according to regional economic profile data from the Oregon Employment Department. Also earning above-average wages were residents of Multnomah, Washington, and Benton counties. In contrast, the average annual pay of workers in Hood River County was $19,117. The average annual wage is even lower in Malheur, Wheeler and Sherman counties. The economic differences between the two counties also show up in statistics for the Children's Health Insurance Plan, a health service for low-income children. About 36 percent of the children living in Clackamas County come from families who are eligible for the health plan. In Hood River County, in contrast, 95 percent of the children qualify for the plan. The economic recovery that Oregon has enjoyed since the recession of the 1980s has left rural Oregon behind, said Arthur Ayre, an economist with the Policy and Communications Section of the Oregon Economic Development Department. In a presentation to the Governor's Workforce Policy Cabinet entitled "Distressed Areas in Oregon," Ayres noted that fifty years ago, the state's manufacturing sector was highly concentrated in lumber, wood products and food processing. Twenty years ago, Oregon had more than 80,000 people working in the wood products industry. But the recession of the early 1980s and increased environmental regulation and mill automation during the early 1990s reduced that figure to about 50,000 jobs today. Among the communities hit hardest by the timber downturn were Reedsport and Coos Bay on the southern Oregon Coast. While Oregon has diversified its urban economy into well-paying high technology and small manufacturing jobs, such jobs have not been created to replace lost forestry and fishing industry jobs in rural areas. While 250,000 more jobs have been created in non-metropolitan areas since the 1970s, the average worker in rural Oregon now earns $2,300 less-adjusted for inflation-than a comparable worker in the 1970s, according to a January 1999 report prepared for the Portland Chamber of Commerce. Jeff Davis, planning and marketing coordinator for The Oregon Consortium, a workforce training program in 23 rural Oregon counties, said another effort is needed to bring economic growth to rural Oregon. While that is a start, rural Oregon continues to seek economic opportunities often without the same kinds of roads, infrastructure and other necessities of commerce found in urban areas. Frank Harkenrider, the long-time mayor of Hermiston, said the average annual wage in his community of about $21,000 is inadequate for meeting a family's expenses, but above the poverty line for receiving benefits. "Rent has gone from about $375 a month to $800," Harkenrider said. "Property costs are going up. The cost of gas is going up. I don't think wages are keeping up. I don't see how people can pay car insurance and medical costs. A lot of things seem beyond the control of the average person now."   Article 3 of 10 in Part 3   back to top

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