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Poverty
in Maine - 2006
Piscataquis County Profile
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Population growth
in Piscataquis County from 2000 to 2005 (2.5%) was lower than
the state average (3.7%). However, the county is one of five
in Maine that reversed from being a net outmigration county in
the 1990s to a net inmigration county in 2000-2004.
Piscataquis is among the four counties with the highest
estimated proportion of the population age 65 and over.
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Piscataquis County’s
individual poverty rate in 2003 was considerably above the
state rate, both for the population as a whole and for those
under 18.
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Median household
income in Piscataquis County in 2003 was almost 22% lower than
the state median income, and was the second lowest of any
county. It was 18% below the 200% poverty level for a
four-person household.
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The 2004 ‘livable
wage’ estimate for a four-person household (2 parents, both
wage earners, and 2 children) in Piscataquis County was more
than twice as high as the
poverty level for a four-person household.
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The proportion of
per-capita personal income in 2004 from net earnings was lower
in Piscataquis County than in the state as a whole, and the
proportion from transfer payments was considerably higher.
This is consistent with the older age profile of the county
and its high poverty rate.
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Piscataquis County’s
monthly average unemployment rate for 2005 was considerably
higher than the state average, and was the third highest among
Maine’s counties.
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Piscataquis County
residents were higher than the state average in participation
rates for food stamps in FY05.
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Over half of the
school-age population in Piscataquis County was eligible for
free and reduced school lunch in FY06, considerably higher
than in the state as a whole. Piscataquis County ranked second
among Maine’s counties in the proportion eligible for this
benefit.
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The proportion of
households receiving LIHEAP benefits in FY05 was almost double
the level in the state as a whole.
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A considerably
smaller proportion of the Piscataquis County population has
college degrees (associate or bachelor’s) than in the state
as a whole, and a considerably greater proportion has less
than a high school education.
TREND HIGHLIGHTS
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Over the most
recent four-year period for which county-level data are
available, the poverty rate trend in Piscataquis County
generally mirrors that of the state as a whole. The estimated
percentage of individuals below poverty increased each year
from 2000 to 2002, with a decrease in 2003. The county poverty
rate in 2003 was the lowest of this four-year period
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Over the four-year
period from FY02 to FY05, the number of Piscataquis County
households receiving food stamps increased each year; the
number in FY05 was 44.4% greater than in FY02, which was
somewhat less than the statewide increase of 49% in this time
period.
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The number of
Piscataquis County households receiving LIHEAP benefits
remained fairly stable from FY02 to FY05, ranging from a high
of 1,320 households in FY03 to a low of 1,224 in FY04.
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From 2002 to 2005,
Piscataquis County’s monthly average unemployment rate
reached a peak in 2003, declined substantially in 2004, and
increased slightly in 2005.
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The percentage of
school-age children eligible for free and reduced school lunch
in Piscataquis County increased from FY03 to FY04, decreased
in FY05, and increased in FY06 to its highest level in the
four-year period.
MAPS AND GRAPHS
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