Metro Valdosta ranks on poverty list

VALDOSTA — Poverty may be declining in the U.S., but in the Valdosta metropolitan area, 26 percent of its residents are below the poverty line, according to a website that’s making national news. 

The financial news website 24/7 Wall Street looked at poverty data from the U.S. Census Bureau to determine the 38 most impoverished metro areas in the nation.

Valdosta claimed the fifth spot right between Brownsville-Harlingen, Texas, at number four and Farmington, New Mexico at number six. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas, took the number one spot with 30 percent of residents below the poverty line.

Valdosta also fell into the highest 10 percent of cities for households receiving SNAP benefits at 18.8 percent and the bottom 10 percent of cities for median household income at $40,391. Valdosta’s 2017 unemployment rate was 4.7 percent. The highest unemployment rate was 7.4 percent.

Because this is metro area Census data, Mayor John Gayle said the numbers do not reflect solely on what’s happening within the Valdosta city limits.

“Bear in mind this is a metropolitan statistic, which is not only Valdosta,” Gayle said. “It involves some poor communities outside of our jurisdiction. That might pull down our poverty level somewhat.”

The Valdosta metropolitan area includes Lowndes, Lanier, Brooks and Echols counties.

He said the City of Valdosta is aware of its residents in poverty and is doing what it can to alleviate the problem by having a lower cost of living than bigger metro areas and lower taxes and water and sewer rates than its peer communities.

“We recognize that we have poverty-ridden people in our community, and we try to make sure that we protect them as much as possible through a lower cost of living,” Gayle said.

Last year’s 24/7 Wall Street list had Valdosta at a 22.6 percent poverty rate. It was 26.6 percent in 2015, 26 percent in 2014 and 26.9 percent in 2013, keeping Valdosta’s poverty rate consistent. 

Valdosta showed up on multiple 24/7 Wall Street lists, including ninth on “America’s Poorest Cities” list and 19th on “Worst Cities to Find a Job for Recent Graduates” list.

There were four Georgia cities represented on the impoverished metro areas list, including Albany at seven, Columbus at 16, Macon-Bibb County at 18 and Athens-Clarke County at 26.

The U.S. poverty rate dropped from 14 percent in 2016 to 13.4 percent in 2017. However, the 38 metro areas in this list have a poverty rate at or above 20 percent and are mostly in the South.

Katelyn Umholtz is a reporter with the Valdosta Daily Times. She can be contacted at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256.