Report: Nearly 15 percent of NC in poverty

RALEIGH (AP) — Newly released data shows that almost 15 percent of North Carolina residents live in poverty.

The U.S. Census Bureau released data Wednesday that shows the highest rate statewide in 2005 was in Robeson County, where at least 30 percent of residents lived in poverty. The lowest rate of 10 percent or less was in Dare County and the Outer Banks.

Although three years old, the numbers offer the most complete picture available of income and poverty in North Carolina.

They show the state’s most prosperous regions include urban areas and counties along the coast and in the mountains popular with tourists. The poorest counties are heavily concentrated in rural eastern North Carolina.

Wake County had the highest median household income at almost $58,000. The state’s median was less than $41,000.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)