Article archive / February 1, 2015
Originally published: . Volume 6, No. 2. Source pages: 3.
According to 24/7 Wall Street, Louisiana has lost 4.9 percent of its middle class households, placing it sixth in those states where the middle class is declining. The middle class average income was $44,442, placing it at the eight lowest in the states. The poorest 20 percent of households fell at $8,851, lower than every state except for Mississippi. The report authors said, “While the widening income gaps in the states where the middle class is suffering did not always mean a higher poverty rate among residents, in Louisiana the poverty rate increased more than in most states over that time. By 2013, nearly one in five Louisiana residents lived in poverty, one of the highest poverty rates in the country.”
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.