U.S. Census Bureau

Black and Hispanic residents in the greater D.C. area endure higher poverty rates than white and Asian residents, though are better off than the national average, according to the latest figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

In an American Community Survey report, covering a period between 2007 and 2011, the Census report that 14 percent of black Maryland residents and 19 percent of black Virginia residents lived in poverty. Both states posted figures well below the national average of 26 percent. However, The Washington Post points out, D.C.’s poverty level for black residents is roughly equal to the national rate:

According to the census figures, the most pervasive degree of poverty in the Washington region was experienced among blacks living in the District. In the city as a whole, 26 percent of American Americans were poor, roughly the same as the national average. But even that grim statistic understates the poverty in some corners of the city. In Ward 8, for example, 38 percent of the residents are poor, according to census statistics.

“During the recession, we saw a number of families who had been doing well pushed back below the poverty level,” said Joe Weeden, director of Defeat Poverty DC, a coalition of groups working to halve the city’s poverty level over the decade.

Hispanic residents of the area fared a bit better. Fourteen percent of the District’s Hispanic residents lived below the poverty line during the analyzed period; Maryland and Virginia recorded Hispanic poverty rates of 12.7 and 14.8 percent, respectively. The national average for Hispanics was recorded at 23.2 percent.

The region’s white residents showed some of the lowest poverty rates in the country, with 6 percent in Maryland, and 8 percent in both the District and Virginia. For Asian residents, 7.4 percent in Maryland and 7.9 percent in Virginia were considered poor, while in the District that figure was 13.4 percent.

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