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Census: Virginia Incomes Up, Poverty Down

United States Census Bureau

Virginians are making more money than they did last year, incomes have risen, and fewer families are living in poverty. That’s according to data released today by the census.

According to the latest data, 44,000 Virginians who once lived below the poverty line, no longer do. Laura Goren is research director at the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis.

“Some of the really good news in today’s census release is that there are fewer Virginians who are poor who are living on less than $24,000 for a family of four, than there were in the past.”

Some bad news though is that even though incomes have risen in Virginia, they’ve risen MORE across the country.

Goren says that might be because the federal government is still carefully monitoring what it spends.

“Virginia does very well when the federal government’s spending a lot of money on contractors and purchasing goods and services. And when that federal spending slows down some we typically see somewhat slower growth in Virginia.”

Whether federal spending speeds back up could depend in large part on how things go at the polls this November. 

Mallory Noe-Payne is a Radio IQ reporter based in Richmond.
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