Household income growing in Chattanooga area as poverty levels drop

Income levels rose significantly in Chattanooga and Hamilton County, and the percent of people living in poverty dropped significantly from 2011 to 2012, new reports from the U.S. Census Bureau show. After a dip income in 2011, numbers are about where they were in 2010.

The data show that income and poverty levels in the United States and Tennessee remain relatively unchanged. Hamilton County and Chattanooga, however, made great strides. In Hamilton County, the median household income rose from $42,640 in 2011 to $47,667 in 2012. In Chattanooga, the median household income rose from $33,250 in 2011, to $40,116 in 2012. Those numbers are still below the national median household income for 2012, which is $51,017.

In Hamilton County, the percent of people living below the poverty level dropped from 19.4% in 2011 to 15.0% in 2012. In Chattanooga, it dropped from 28.7% in 2011 to 21.2% in 2012. Nationally, the percent of people living in poverty was about 15 percent both years.

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