Chicago saw positive signs of growth in household income and a declining percentage of people are living below the poverty line for the fifth straight year, new census data shows.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the city’s median household income increased nearly 11% — from $51,695 in 2014 to $57,238 in 2018, edging higher each year.
The surging city income is coupled with a drop in the percentage of people living below the poverty line. Just over 17% of city residents were below the poverty line — down from 22% living in 2014.
Rob Paral, a demographic and public policy consultant, called that drop impressive. Downtown’s economic boom is the main reason, he said, he economic boom in downtown led to the drop, but that means gentrification also is a factor.
“Chicago has been losing a lot of poor folks as they move to other states,” Paral said. “The fact Chicago has dropped so much in its poverty measures is interesting because for a long time it’s been considered a ‘poor man’s’ city.”
In Cook Count overall, residents living in poverty also fell — from 17% in 2014 to 13.7% in 2018.
The dip in people living in poverty shows the city on track to match the state’s overall number, Paral said, which is just over 12%.
Chicago’s 2018 median household income of $57,238 still lags local, state and national figures from that year. The overall Cook County median income was $63,353, while Illinois’ median income that year was $65,030. Nationally, the 2018 median household income was $61,937.
Manny Ramos is a corps member of Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster Sun-Times coverage of Chicago’s South Side and West Side.
