Oregon income rises, but poverty rate holds.

Byline: David Steves The Register-Guard

SALEM - The typical Oregon household is making more money, but the state's rate of poverty and percentage of uninsured remained flat, according to new Census data released Tuesday.

Oregon's median household income in 2005-06 was $46,349, up $1,667 from the 2004-05 figure, according to the state-by-state data released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

But the percent of people in poverty statewide stood at 11.9 percent, unchanged from the 2004-05 rate. And the percentage of Oregonians without health coverage rose slightly, from 16 percent in 2004-05 to 16.8 percent in 2005-06.

"Despite the income growth for the typical Oregon household, we didn't see health insurance and poverty improving," said Michael Leachman, a policy analyst with the Oregon Center for Public Policy, a nonpartisan research institute based in Silverton.

Chuck Sheketoff, the center's executive director, said that while Oregon's figures for the poor and the uninsured did not significantly change in the past three years, longer-term trends were troubling.

Comparing Census data from 2000-2001 to the newest figures for 2005-06, he noted that poverty rates had hovered at roughly the same levels - up from 11.4 percent, or 389,500 people, to 11.9 percent, or 437,500 people statewide.

At the same time, the number and percentage of people without insurance has risen significantly, he said. In 2000-01, 438,000 Oregonians, 12.8 percent of the state, had no insurance. By 2005-06, the figures had grown to 16.8 percent, or 616,000 Oregonians.

Considering that poverty levels remained flat while a growing number of people lacked health coverage, Sheketoff said the numbers point to more people with wages or other income who can't afford insurance or don't receive coverage through their employment.

"To address the problem of health insurance, you cannot just look at who is defined as poor," he said.

Compared with other states, Oregon improved in several categories measured by the Census data. Last year Oregon ranked 27th for the highest percentage of children in poverty, at 16.8 percent - just below the 18.3 percent poverty rate among all children in the United States. Oregon's ranking last year was an improvement from its 23rd ranking in 2005, when 18.4 percent of Oregonians under 18 were considered poor, virtually identical to the 18.5 national rate.

Poverty among Oregon seniors was far less common, with 8.4 percent of Oregonians 65 and older falling below the poverty line last year. Oregon ranked 34th nationally, below the U.S. average of 9.9 percent. But poverty for Oregon seniors was up somewhat from 2005, when 7.7 percent were considered poor.

The poverty level is the official measure used to decide eligibility for federal health, housing, nutrition and child care benefits. It differs by family size and makeup. For a family of four with two children, for example, the poverty level is $20,444.

The nation's poverty rate was 12.3 percent in 2006, down from 12.6 percent a year before. Median household income increased slightly, to $48,200.

But those gains were tempered by an increase in the number of Americans without health insurance, from 44.8 million in 2005 to 47 million last year.

The last significant decline in the poverty rate came in 2000, when it went from 11.9 percent to 11.3 percent. The poverty rate increased every year for the next four years, peaking at 12.7 percent in 2004. It was 12.6 percent in 2005, but Census officials said that change was statistically insignificant.

The share of Americans without health insurance hit 15.8 percent last year, the highest percentage since 1998. In 2005, 15.3 percent were without insurance.

The annual increase was fueled mainly by a decline in the share of workers covered by employer-provided health insurance, said David Johnson, chief of the Census Bureau's Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division.

The income group with the most people losing insurance was households making $75,000 or more a year, showing the issue is not limited to the poor.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

$46,349

Oregon's median household income

in 2005-06, up $1,667 from 2004-05

11.9%

State's poverty rate in 2005-06

$48,200

U.S. median income in 2005-06

12.3%

National poverty rate in 2005-06