According to new U.S. Census Bureau data and an analysis from the left-wing Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, the state still hasn’t fully recovered from the 2008 recession.
Some demographics like African Americans have even seen a downward trend.
The statewide poverty rate remains steady at 19 percent, mostly untouched from 2013 to 2014. At the same time, median household income fell two percent, from an inflation-adjusted $44,097 in 2013 to $42,958 in 2014.
For comparison, in 2007, 17.3 percent of Kentuckians lived in poverty and the annual median income stood at $45,973.
The poverty rate with the state’s African-American population sits at 32-percent. That’s up 3 percentage points from 2013. Annual income also fell from $30,183 to $26,735.