Most of the Mountain West ranks below average when it comes to health insurance coverage and median income, according to Census data. Poverty rates, meanwhile, are largely better than average throughout the region.
The Census鈥� yearly reports on the nation鈥檚 social and economic wellbeing due to several troubling trends. Child poverty doubled, and median household income fell by 2.3 percent 鈥� down to $74,580 per year. Post-tax income inequality also grew.
The Census Bureau鈥檚 Liana Fox said in a webinar that many of these shifts are the result of high inflation and the loss of pandemic-era government aid, such as the expanded .
鈥淲hat we're seeing is declines,鈥� said Fox, an assistant division chief. 鈥淒eclines in income at the bottom end of income distribution, in the middle of the income distribution and the top of the income distribution.鈥�
In Mountain West states, income stayed mostly the same, according to a different Census dataset called the . However, only Utah and Colorado have higher levels than the U.S. median. New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming and Nevada have the lowest median incomes in the region.
Poverty rates, meanwhile, are a different story. Most states in the region 鈥� except New Mexico 鈥� have a lower percentage of people in poverty than the U.S. rate of 11.5%.
When it comes to health insurance nationwide, coverage is increasing because more folks are either gaining employment or aging into Medicare eligibility, according to the Census Bureau.
Health insurance coverage rates rose throughout the Mountain West. Yet only Colorado鈥檚 coverage rate exceeds the U.S. average.
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau is provided in part by the .