Ohio, Ohio, who wants to take credit for this Kasich or Obama?

Surprise, it still sucks to live in Ohio, economically speaking. In 2011 the median household income decline in 2011 by 5.7% from the previous year, which is a decline more than three times the national average, according to the US Census Bureau. On Wednesday, the Census Bureau released figures that estimate Ohio’s median income is $44,648, which is a decline of $2,675 from 2010.

There might be some good news; well it is portrayed as good news by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The state’s poverty rate is 15.1% and the rate of uninsured residents is 13.6%, which remains virtually unchanged. I guess they see no movement as good. Opposed to the rest of the world would consider a 15% poverty rate bad even if it has stabilized.

As the election approaches (I sincerely hope you heard that in Bette Midler’s voice from Hocus Pocus), both campaigns are sure to be looking at this information and considering the best spin. Naturally, Romney will used a poverty rate this high and a drop in median income as a sign that Ohio is on the brink of destitution while Obama will be claiming the poverty didn’t increase as expected.

Median Household Income, Inflation-adjusted to 2011 dollars (based on a figure from the Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Year	Ohio (Rank)	US Dollars
2011	$44,648 (39)	$50,054
2010	$47,333 (34)	$50,831
2009	$48,107 (32)	$52,195
2008	$49,027 (32)	$52,546
2007	$53,259 (23)	$54,489
2006	$51,202 (30)	$53,768
2005	$50,925 (28)	$53,371
2004	$51,266 (27)	$52,788
2003	$53,220 (23)	$52,973
2002	$53,363 (23)	$53,019
2001	$53,083 (25)	$53,646
2000	$56,111 (19)	$54,841
1999	$53,303 (26)	$54,932
1998	$53,638 (25)	$53,582
1997	$50,487 (25)	$51,704
1996	$48,631 (29)	$50,661
1995	$51,202 (21)	$49,935
1994	$47,804 (25)	$48,418
1993	$47,951 (23)	$47,884
1992	$49,324 (20)	$48,117
1991	$47,975 (22)	$48,516
1990	$50,067 (21)	$49,950
1989	$50,825 (22)	$50,624
1988	$50,678 (21)	$49,737
1987	$48,812 (24)	$49,358
1986	$49,173 (21)	$48,746
1985	$50,181 (13)	$47,079
1984	$47,675 (18)	$46,215

The study yielding these results was conducted in the spring of 2012. People were asked about their income in 2011. It doesn’t reflect any changes during 2012. Ohio gained 100,000 jobs between July 2011 and July 2012, and governmental data shows that Ohio is more than 400,000 jobs short of 2000 levels.

As far as median household incomes, only seven other states saw drops worse than Ohio, but Dave Davis didn’t say which states had the drops.

So we’re back to discussing the middle class and how they suffered this time…I’m pretty sure they were suffering before. Claudia Coulton, co-director of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at Case Western Reserve University said,

“Wow. This suggests that it’s the middle class who took a hit this time, and that would show up in the lowering of median income. I know we’ve heard some economic news in Ohio that we’re seeing some job creation here, but what we haven’t quite heard about that news is whether the wages for those jobs are the same as the jobs that we’ve lost. The fact that poverty stayed the same suggests that we really didn’t see a change at the lowest end of the income distribution.”

Coulton added that local food pantries have seen a change in their clientele including an increase in families eligible for food stamps.

Nationally, household income decreased by $700 from 2010, to $50,054, while the rate of people in poverty held at 15% and the number of uninsured dropped by 1.4 million people (Obamacare bitches, but seriously parents can now keep their children on their insurance till the child reaches 26 years of age). The poverty rate for a family of four in 2011 is $22,811, which is ridiculous.

Below is another figure from the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

David Johnson, a Census Bureau chief, said the main finding was health insurance coverage increased between 2010 and 2011. 1.4 million Americans gained health insurance. The rate in 2010 was 16.3% and dropped to 15.7% in 2011. The poverty rate held with no statistical difference between 2010 and 2011. Rates of private insurance remained the same. More than one-third of people working full-time lack health insurance. Johnson also noted the stratification of incomes in the US the disparity it creates.

Figure from Cleveland Plain Dealer:

This figure is a historical look at median household income by race, also from the Census Bureau.

So what to do with this? Honestly, I hate how slowly this information comes out, because we know it isn’t really that relevant anymore especially with the increase in jobs in Ohio during the second half of 2011 and the first half of 2012. That being said I’d like to see figures that encompass more time, maybe five years. That is what I’m working on in Maryland, and to see the recession laid out is interesting and makes for some exciting figures.

With the DOL training grants for old people, and the welfare to work requirements, we can assume that many of the jobs added were in the service sector, which are usually low-wage. Ohio needs positions that offer a living-wage to bring the economy up and drop the poverty rate. I know I’m beating a dead horse on that one.