D.C.'s suburbs are becoming increasingly poverty-stricken, says report

Across the nation, poverty may be growing in both suburban and urban areas, but it is increasing fastest in the suburbs, according to Apartment List. With data from the Joint Center on Housing Studies at Harvard University, Apartment List reported that the share of high poverty tracts in suburban areas of Washington, D.C., increased from 13 percent in 2000 to 14 percent in 2015.

The number of high-poverty neighborhoods in the District has also increased, from 90 in 2000 to 113 in 2015. When it comes to where these neighborhoods are, the majority are in high-density areas. In 2005, 87 percent of these neighborhoods were in urban centers, but the number dropped to 84 percent by 2015.

As a comparison, across the nation, approximately 51 percent of the low-income population lived in high-poverty, dense urban areas in 2000, but this decreased to approximately 43 percent by 2015. This is not to say that poverty has decreased, though. The U.S. poverty rate increased from 11.3 percent in 2000 to 13.5 percent in 2015.

For more data on the “suburbanization of poverty” across the nation, be sure to check out Apartment List.

• Poverty in the Suburbs: Are Cities Prepared to Deal with the Growing Problem? [Apartment List]