Health insurance coverage up in 2011 but poverty, median income unchanged

The Census Bureau released the 2011 American Community Survey today. The ACS is the primary resource for demographic data at the state, county, local, and sub-local level.

Some Maryland highlights:

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• Median household income in the state was unchanged (no statistical difference with 2010) at $70,004 in 2011. Once again, Maryland has the highest median income in the nation. Nationwide, the median household income is $50,502.
• Maryland's poverty rate was also essentially unchanged, at 10.1 percent. The national poverty rate was 15.9 percent.
• Health insurance coverage among younger Marylanders 18-25 jumped 6.7 percentage points between 2009 and 2011, to 81.7 percent. The coverage rate for this population was significantly higher than the national coverage rate for the same age group of 71.8 percent (up 3.6 percentage points). This growth in coverage is partially attributable to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provision allowing children under 26 to remain on their parent's policy.

Of course, there was enormous variation across Maryland in 2011 in each of these categories. Median household income was as low as $38,502 in Allegany County and as high as $98,953 in Howard County. Poverty rates ranged between 4.2 percent in Calvert County all the way up to 25.1 percent in Baltimore City. And health insurance coverage for Marylanders 18-24 (note slight variance due to data availability from statewide age range) varied between 86.4 percent in Wicomico County and 93.9 percent in Montgomery County.