STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Child poverty has long been a major issue in New York, with the state routinely having one of the highest rates in the country. But some areas are much more severely impacted than others.
In October 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul launched the Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council, a group responsible for developing a plan to cut child poverty in New York in half over the next decade.
“Alleviating poverty for all New Yorkers – especially our youngest – is a key priority for my administration,” Hochul said at the time. “This talented and diverse group of policy experts, service providers, advocates, and community members will examine both proven strategies and new approaches to further this goal and address the broad and systemic inequities that perpetuate cycles of poverty in communities throughout New York state.”
The group’s most recent annual update, which is publicly available online, outlined numerous negative outcomes related to child poverty, including adverse health effects, poor educational performance, lower earnings, toxic stress and shorter life spans.
The Staten Island Advance/SILive.com recently analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau 2022 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates to see which New York counties have the highest percentage of children living in poverty.
Poverty status is determined by comparing annual income to a set of dollar values (poverty thresholds) that vary by family size, number of children and the age of the householder, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Across New York state, 18.1% of children, defined as residents under the age of 18, are living below poverty level, the data shows.
Two of the four counties with the highest child poverty rates are located in New York City, with Bronx County having, by far, the highest rate at 34.9%, and Kings County, or Brooklyn, having the fourth-highest rate at 25.8%.
The lowest child poverty rates are in Putnam, Nassau and Saratoga counties, which boasted rates of 5.8%, 6% and 7%, respectively.
Here are the child poverty rates for each New York county, from highest to lowest, according to the U.S. Census Bureau 2022 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates.
- Bronx County – 34.9% child poverty rate
- Oswego County – 28.6% child poverty rate
- Franklin County – 28.0% child poverty rate
- Kings County (Brooklyn) – 25.8% child poverty rate
- Rockland County – 25.8% child poverty rate
- Broome County – 25.1% child poverty rate
- Chautauqua County – 25.0% child poverty rate
- Allegany County – 24.8% child poverty rate
- Schuyler County – 24.4% child poverty rate
- Cattaraugus County – 24.0% child poverty rate
- Saint Lawrence County – 23.4% child poverty rate
- Yates County – 23.0% child poverty rate
- Sullivan County – 22.6% child poverty rate
- Montgomery County – 21.4% child poverty rate
- Onondaga County – 21.1% child poverty rate
- Delaware County – 21.0% child poverty rate
- Oneida County – 20.4% child poverty rate
- Chemung County – 19.9% child poverty rate
- New York County (Manhattan) – 19.6% child poverty rate
- Orange County – 19.6% child poverty rate
- Monroe County – 19.1% child poverty rate
- Erie County – 19.0% child poverty rate
- Lewis County – 18.9% child poverty rate
- Niagara County – 18.4% child poverty rate
- Steuben County – 17.9% child poverty rate
- Cayuga County – 17.5% child poverty rate
- Chenango County – 17.2% child poverty rate
- Fulton County – 16.6% child poverty rate
- Rensselaer County – 16.6% child poverty rate
- Orleans County – 16.6% child poverty rate
- Herkimer County – 16.5% child poverty rate
- Jefferson County – 16.2% child poverty rate
- Clinton County – 16.0% child poverty rate
- Otsego County – 15.8% child poverty rate
- Seneca County – 15.8% child poverty rate
- Albany County – 15.8% child poverty rate
- Ulster County – 15.6% child poverty rate
- Livingston County – 15.4% child poverty rate
- Schenectady County – 15.3% child poverty rate
- Queens County – 14.4% child poverty rate
- Columbia County – 14.0% child poverty rate
- Wayne County – 14.0% child poverty rate
- Washington County – 13.9% child poverty rate
- Wyoming County – 13.9% child poverty rate
- Richmond County (Staten Island) – 13.6% child poverty rate
- Essex County – 12.7% child poverty rate
- Madison County – 12.5% child poverty rate
- Cortland County – 11.7% child poverty rate
- Tioga County – 11.7% child poverty rate
- Tompkins County – 11.3% child poverty rate
- Greene County – 11.2% child poverty rate
- Hamilton County – 11.1% child poverty rate
- Ontario County – 11.0% child poverty rate
- Schoharie County – 10.9% child poverty rate
- Westchester County – 9.8% child poverty rate
- Genesee County – 9.6% child poverty rate
- Dutchess County – 9.1% child poverty rate
- Warren County – 8.2% child poverty rate
- Suffolk County – 7.5% child poverty rate
- Saratoga County – 7.0% child poverty rate
- Nassau County – 6.0% child poverty rate
- Putnam County – 5.8% child poverty rate
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