Mississippi is in dire need of a change.
For decades, the U.S. Census Bureau has published data on income and poverty and newly released statistics show Mississippi continues to be the poorest state in the country with the highest poverty rate.
The website 24/7 Wall Street ranked Mississippi at No. 50, showing us with the lowest median household income ($40,593) and the highest poverty rate (22.0 percent).
Among neighboring states, Arkansas ranked 49 with the second lowest income figure ($41,995) and the fourth highest poverty rate (19.1 percent). Alabama ranked 47 with the fourth lowest income figure ($44,765) and the fifth highest poverty rate (18.5 percent). Louisiana ranked 44 with the seventh lowest income figure ($44,765) and the third highest poverty rate (19.6 percent). Tennessee ranked 42 with the ninth lowest income figure ($47,275) and the 10th highest poverty rate (16.7 percent).
Nationally, the average median household income was $55,775 and the poverty rate was 14.7 percent.
Other Census Bureau data showed 44.3 percent of Mississippi households earned less than $35,000 compared with 31.9 percent nationally; 2.1 percent earned $200,000 or more versus 5.8 percent nationally. Nearly 8 percent received supplemental Social Security benefits compared with 5.5 percent nationally; 18.2 percent received SNAP benefits (food stamps) versus 12.8 percent nationally, and 34.4 percent received Social Security benefits versus 30.8 percent nationally.
Of employed Mississippi civilians age 16 and older, 17.9 percent were local, state and national government workers compared with 13.6 percent nationally.
Of Mississippians age 18 to 64 with jobs, 15.8 percent had no health insurance coverage compared with 11.6 percent nationally. Of those without jobs, 44.7 percent had no insurance versus 28.5 percent nationally.
These statistics are a direct result of the Mississippi low workforce, with 58.9 percent of citizens age 16 and older participating in the workforce. Also job growth rates are a large part of this factor with only private sector jobs growing only 7.3 percent in Mississippi versus 13.6 percent national growth.
The answer is staring us right in the face…grow jobs in the private sector to put Mississippians to work. This task is not going to be easy and both presidential candidates have their opinions on how it can be repaired, which I’m not going to get into here. But now is the time to take the necessary steps to do what it takes to put more Mississippians to work.
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Joseph Brown is the editor and publisher of The Star-Herald. He can be reached at jbrown@starherald.net.
