Poverty & Safety Net
Article

Poverty data for 2016-2020 shows mixed results for Cleveland and Cuyahoga County

Emily Campbell
Chief Executive Officer
Additional Contributors
No items found.
March 21, 2022
Read time:
Download Fact Sheets
Register now
Share this resource
Subscribe to our Newsletter
By subscribing you agree to with our Privacy Policy.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Download this as a PDF

The number and percent of people living in poverty in Cleveland appears to have dropped in 2020, according to the American Community Survey 5-year estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Although the change is not statistically significant, improvements in the economic circumstances for children continued a recent trend, and estimates of child poverty in Cleveland reached the lowest levels since the Great Recession of the mid-2000s. On the other hand, the number and share of poor older adults in Cleveland continued to climb.

These new estimates include four pre-pandemic years (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) plus 2020, so the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic are dampened in the data. These estimates are more reliable, but we aren’t able to discern year-over-year changes and they only provide an indication of trends. And none of the changes reported here are statistically significant and should be interpreted with caution.

Some key take-aways from the latest estimates:

  • Even though child poverty seemed to improve, it remined the case that in Cleveland and across the country, the younger you are the more likely you are to live in poverty. Nearly half (46.6%) of Cleveland children under age 18 were poor, compared to 29.1% of working-age adults and 22.1% of older adults.
  • Over 11,700 Cleveland residents over the age of 65 lived in poverty. There were nearly 1,600 more poor older adults in Cleveland in 2020 than in 2015, a 15.6% increase. This compares to a 7% drop in the number of children under age 18 in poverty in the city over the same time period.
There were nearly 1,600 more poor older adults in Cleveland in 2020 than in 2015.
  • Cleveland’s rank among large U.S. cities was somewhat better in these five-year estimates than in the previous one-year estimates. Comparing all cities with populations of at least 300,000, Cleveland was second worst in overall poverty in 2016-2020, just ahead of Detroit. Cleveland was also second from the bottom for child poverty, working age poverty, and older adult poverty. The gap between Cleveland and Detroit continued to shrink, with poverty in Detroit falling faster than Cleveland.
  • Cleveland residents comprised 57.4% of the 208,021 people below poverty in Cuyahoga County. Poverty remains more concentrated in Cleveland. About one out of every ten residents (10.5%) in Cuyahoga County’s suburbs was poor, compared to one out of every three (32%) in Cleveland.
  • These new estimates show persistent racial disparities, especially within Cuyahoga County, where Black residents were more than three times as likely to live in poverty as non-Hispanic white residents.
  • As in past years, low wages meant that working, even full time, was no guarantee of climbing out of poverty. In Cuyahoga County, over 12,000 adults worked full time for the full year, but earned so little that they were still below poverty.
In Cuyahoga County, over 12,000 adults worked full time for the full year, but earned so little that they were still below poverty.

Community Solutions will continue to dig into the data and we will release more analysis over the coming weeks.

Download Fact Sheets

District 10

Download

All Council Districts 2024

Download

District 4

Download

District 2

Download

District 11

Download

District 9

Download

District 8

Download

District 5

Download

District 7

Download

District 1

Download

District 3

Download

District 6

Download

West Boulevard

Download

University

Download

Union-Miles

Download

Tremont

Download

Stockyards

Download

St.Clair-Superior

Download

Old Brooklyn

Download

Ohio City

Download

North Shore Collinwood

Download

Mount Pleasant

Download

Lee-Seville

Download

Lee-Harvard

Download

Kinsman

Download

Kamm's Corners

Download

Jefferson

Download

Goodrich-Kirtland Park

Download

Glenville

Download

Fairfax

Download

Euclid-Green

Download

Edgewater

Download

Downtown

Download

Detroit Shoreway

Download

Cudell

Download

Collinwood-Nottingham

Download

Clark-Fulton

Download

Central

Download

Buckeye-Woodhill

Download

Buckeye-Shaker Square

Download

Brooklyn Centre

Download

Broadway-Slavic Village

Download

Bellaire-Puritas

Download

All Neighborhoods 2024

Download

West Boulevard Factsheet

Download

University Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Union-Miles Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Tremont Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Stockyards Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

St. Clair-Superior Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Old Brooklyn Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Ohio City Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

North Shore Collinwood Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Mount Pleasant Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Lee-Seville Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Lee-Harvard Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Kinsman Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Kamm's Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Jefferson Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Hough Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Hopkins Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Goodrich-Kirtland Park Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Glenville Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Fairfax Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Euclid-Green Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Edgewater Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Downtown Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Detroit Shoreway Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Cuyahoga Valley Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Cudell Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Collinwood-Nottingham Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Clark-Fulton Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Central Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Buckeye-Shaker Square Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Brooklyn Centre Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Broadway-Slavic Village Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Bellaire-Puritas Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

All Neighborhoods 2016

Download

District 2

Download

District 1

Download

Ohio Women Statewide

Download

All Women Fact Sheets

Download

Wyandot Women

Download

Wood Women

Download

Williams Women

Download

Wayne Women

Download

Washington Women

Download

Warren Women

Download

Vinton Women

Download

Van Wert Women

Download

Union Women

Download

Tuscarawas Women

Download

Trumbell Women

Download

Summit Women

Download

Stark Women

Download

Shelby Women

Download

Seneca Women

Download

Scioto Women

Download

Sandusky Women

Download
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Download report

Subscribe to our newsletter

5 Things you need to know arrives on Mondays with the latest articles, events, and advocacy developments in Ohio

Explore the fact sheets

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique.

No Related Fact Sheets

Explore Topics

Browse articles, research, and testimony.