Poverty rate, food stamp usage climbs in Nevada

Nevada's poverty rate increased last year to 12.4 percent while the number of Nevadans using food stamps increased by 31.3 percent, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau last week.

The Silver State, among 31 states that experienced an increase in poverty, has the 21st highest poverty rate in the nation.

The poverty rate is an income of $22,050 per year for a family of four.

Nationally, 14.3 percent of the U.S. population, or about 42.9 million people, were living in poverty in 2009. That's about one in seven Americans.

Mississippi has the highest in the nation at 21.9 percent while New Hampshire has the lowest at 8.5 percent.

The number of Nevadans using food stamps also increased to 65,473 in 2009, up from 49,855 in 2008, an increase of 31.3 percent. That was about 6.8 percent of the population in 2009.

Other states such as Arizona and Florida saw increases of

30 percent or more in the usage of food stamps in 2009.

Meanwhile, Nevada's median household income dropped from $56,137 in 2008 to $53,341 in 2009, but remained higher than the U.S. median household income of $50,221.

Other findings included:

• 18.9 percent of Americans in 2009 had an income less than 125 percent of poverty, compared to 17.6 percent in 2008.

• Americans living at 50 percent or less of the poverty rate increased from 5.6 percent of the population in 2008 to 6.3 percent in 2009.

• Women in Nevada were earning about 82.2 percent of what men in Nevada were earning in 2009. Nevada was one of eight states and the District of Columbia where women were earning 80 percent or more compared to men's earnings, among the highest in the nation. The national rate is 78.2 percent.