More Merced County residents living in poverty

More than one out of every four people in Merced County are living in poverty, a rate that appears to have grown since 2014, according to recent figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.

In 2015, 26.7 percent of county residents – or an estimated 70,118 out of 262,314 people – were living below the poverty level, according to Census figures released this month.

That was up from 2014, when the Census Bureau reported that 25.2 percent of county residents were living in poverty, or 65,405 out of 259,607 people.

Merced County ranked as the second-poorest county in California, trailing only Tulare County, which reported 27.6 percent of its residents living in poverty. Fresno County came in third, at 25.3 percent in 2015.

The rate for California as a whole was 15.3 percent.

“It’s not surprising to us because Merced County always ranks in the top five for poverty in the state,” said Brenda Callahan-Johnson, CEO of the Merced County Community Action Agency, the region’s federally designated anti-poverty program.

“We just don’t have the availability of jobs that other counties do. And a lack of jobs and education is what keeps people in poverty.”

The 2015 rate for Merced County was only slightly better than the 27.4 percent poverty rate it recorded in 2011, which was the highest mark reported by the Census Bureau in figures dating to 2005.

The federal poverty line for a single person in 2015 was just under $12,000 per year, and just over $24,000 for a family of four.

More than one-third of residents in Dos Palos – 37.5 percent – were living in poverty, the highest rate of any of the county’s municipalities, according to 2014 figures. Merced’s rate was 30.8 percent; for Atwater, 25.3 percent; for Los Banos, 24.5 percent; and for Gustine, 16.8 percent. The Census database did not report a rate for Livingston.

The largest age group of county residents living in poverty are children, with 38.5 percent of those younger than 18 years living below the federal poverty line.

Seniors, those age 65 or older, were the least likely to be poor, with less than 11 percent living in poverty.

Among the people at least 25 years old, those most likely to be living in poverty were those who lacked a high school diploma: 26.9 percent.

The rate for those with a diploma or certificate was 16.5 percent. For those with some college or an associate’s degree, it was 18.8 percent; and for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher, it was 8.6 percent.

While the arrival of UC Merced is helping boost the local economy in many ways, Callahan-Johnson said, the community must do more to create the sort of jobs that will stem the “brain drain” of the school’s graduates.

“We have people who are graduating and we just don’t have opportunities for them locally,” she said. “We need to try to work with the UC to not only market Merced but to see which types of jobs would keep people in Merced and attract those types of companies.”

Speaking to a gathering of business leaders last week, Chancellor Dorothy Leland said UC Merced hopes that more local companies will offer internships to the campus’ students.

“Many of our students would like to stay here in the San Joaquin Valley,” Leland said. “Help us keep the great talent right here in this community.”

To attract new businesses, Callahan-Johnson said, the community must work together to both improve the image the city projects and reduce the number of homeless. Companies considering Merced have found that local residents often speak badly of the city, she said, and visitors are put off by the sight of panhandlers and homeless at the city’s entrances.

“Economically, it’s a real drain on the business community. And, what happens in the nonprofit world is we can’t keep up with the need, so we end up turning away people that we should be able to help,” she said. “But our resources are so taxed because of this demand and there’s a lot of people who are just left hanging.”

This story was originally published September 26, 2016 at 5:19 PM with the headline "More Merced County residents living in poverty."