The percentage of people living in or near poverty is a measure of the overall economic health of a region. It also indicates the level of need for social and government supports. Seniors in poverty may be particularly vulnerable to rising housing and health care bills.

In 2015-19, 10% of seniors were in poverty, down 4 percentage points from 2000 and similar to the national rate of 9%. This makes Arkansas 44th in the nation on this indicator. Rates were higher among women (12%) than men (8%) and much higher among black or African American seniors (21%) than white or Hispanic seniors (both 9%). The poverty rate improved the most, however, among black or African American Arkansans, falling 14 percentage points since 2000.

Within the state, rates ranged from a low of 7% (Saline, Calhoun, Grant, Independence and Izard Counties) to 17% (Monroe, Chicot, Ashley, Lafayette and Clay Counties).

Given labor market inequities, Black and Latino seniors have higher rates of poverty than white and Asian peers because they experience racial disparities in wealth and retirement income. Since Black and Latino seniors accumulate less retirement income, they must rely more heavily on Social Security to cover living and medical expenses.

The multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined 5 years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with 3 asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval). The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator is expected to be released annually in December.