Poverty in Maine - 2006
Aroostook County Profile

• Aroostook County was one of only two counties in Maine that experienced continued population decline from 2000 to 2005, a loss of 0.9% compared with the statewide population increase of 3.7%. Aroostook is among the four counties with the highest estimated proportion of the population age 65 and over.

• Aroostook County’s individual poverty rate in 2003 was considerably higher than the state rate, both for the population as a whole and for those under 18.

• Median household income in Aroostook County in 2003 was among the lowest of any county in the state, almost 20% below the state’s level, and almost 17% below the 200% poverty level for a four-person household.

• The 2004 ‘livable wage’ estimate for a four-person household (2 parents, both wage earners, and 2 children) in Aroostook County was more than twice as high as the poverty level for a four-person household.

• The proportion of per-capita personal income in 2004 from net earnings was lower than in most counties, and the proportion from transfer payments was higher. This is consistent with the older age profile of the county.

• Aroostook County’s monthly average unemployment rate for 2005 was almost two percentage points higher than the state average.

• Aroostook County residents were considerably above the state average participation rate for food stamps in FY05, and the proportion of school-age children eligible for free and reduced lunch in FY06 was considerably higher than in the state as a whole.

• The proportion of households receiving LIHEAP benefits in FY05 was more than twice as high as in the state as a whole. Compared with LIHEAP households statewide, a much larger proportion in Aroostook County had household members age 65 or over, and a higher proportion received social security or disability benefits.

• A considerably lower proportion of the Aroostook County population has college degrees (associate or bachelor’s) than in the state as a whole. It has the highest proportion of residents with less than a high school education of any Maine county.

• Over the most recent four-year period for which county-level data are available, the poverty rate trend in Aroostook County mirrors the statewide trend. The estimated percentage of individuals below poverty increased each year from 2000 to 2002. Though there was a slight decrease from 2002 to 2003, Aroostook’s individual poverty rate in 2003 remained almost a full percentage point higher than it was in 2000.

• Over the four-year period from FY02 to FY05 the number of Aroostook County households receiving food stamps increased slightly each year; the number in FY05 was 25.2% greater than in FY02, but this was less than the statewide increase of 49% in this time period.

• The number of Aroostook County households receiving LIHEAP benefits varied only slightly during the period from FY02 to FY05.

• From 2002 to 2005, Aroostook County’s monthly average unemployment rate increased to a peak in 2005, almost two percentage points higher than in 2002.

• The percentage of school-age children eligible for free and reduced school lunch in Aroostook County increased from FY03 to FY05, showing a similar pattern of increase as the state as a whole, but stayed relatively stable from FY05 to FY06.

MAPS AND GRAPHS

• Households Receiving LIHEAP Benefits

• Income, Poverty, Employment, Unemployment

• Benefits trends

• Per-capita Personal Income

• Poverty and Livable Wages

• Food Stamps and LIHEAP Benefits

• Poverty, Food Stamps, LIHEAP

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