Barriers to Opportunity – The Growing Problem of Concentrated Poverty in North Carolina’s Neighborhoods

March 2012

KEY FINDINGS:

• I n 2006-2010, 143,445 North Carolinians who were poor lived in concentrated poverty, and the state’s concentrated poverty rate stood at 10.2 percent.
• The concentrated poverty rate in North Carolina more than doubled from 2000 to 2006-2010. During this time, the number of concentrated-poverty neighborhoods in the state nearly tripled, and the number of people living in these neighborhoods who were poor more than tripled.
• African Americans and Latinos living in North Carolina who were poor were more likely to live in concentrated poverty in 2006-2010, compared to their white counterparts. Children who were poor were more likely to live in concentrated poverty than the average North Carolinian who was poor.
• Research shows that place and well-being are deeply connected. Living in areas of concentrated disadvantage while being poor can undermine one’s economic and health opportunities.