Economic statistics for Monroe County, Mich.

The average weekly wage for private-sector employees in Monroe County in mid-2007 was about $769, down from $803 in mid-2006, according to an April 13, 2008 story in The Monroe Evening News.

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Monroe County’s median income in 2005 was $55,823, according to a Jan. 11, 2008, story in The Monroe Evening News. During that same year, about 9.2 percent of the local population was said to be living at the federal poverty level.

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About 47 percent of Monroe County workers commute to a workplace in another county, and only about 1 percent of Monroe County workers work from home. Both statistics are posted at the Monroe County Chamber of Commerce site.

(Think about it: Given these commute patterns, fluctuating gas prices have a huge impact on take-home pay for many local residents.)

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The annual Kids Count study issued a variety of statistics in December 2007 that included a Michigan county-by-county breakdown of key details on K-12 students.

According to that report, 26.5 percent of Monroe County students received free or reduced-price lunches during 2006. That figure was only 17.3 percent in 2000, but has gone up every year since. 2006 was the first year that the “one in four” mark had been hit.

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The Homeless Awareness Planning Committee, in conjunction with the Monroe County Network on Homelessness, hosts a Homeless Awareness Week every November. Their goal is to help address and deal with the financial and emergency needs that local families face - before people get to the point of losing their home or apartment and a crisis situation gets worse.

The campaign literature that the committee distributed in advance of the 2007 awareness week included these information points:

• Homelessness results from a complex set of circumstances, which require people to choose between food, shelter and other basic needs.
• The city of Monroe’s housing needs survey in 2004 identified a need for affordable rental units and home ownership units. Homes are particularly needed in the $130,000 to $150,000 price range.
• The 2006 fair market rent in Monroe County was $723 for a two-bedroom apartment and $944 for a three-bedroom apartment. At these rates, a family of four with two people working at minimum wage or one person earning $21,424 (just barely above poverty level for a family of four) would have to spend 53 percent of the household income on a three bedroom rental.
• About 10 percent of Monroe County residents are living in the poverty level. That income range in 2007 benchmarks is $10,210 for a single person; $13,690 for a family of two; $17,170 for a family of three; and $20,650 for a family of four.
• During the 2005-06 school year, Monroe Public Schools identified 170 students who qualified for free lunch, along with additional services such as transportation assistance and tutoring assistance, because they were in a homeless situation. During the 2006-07 school year, that number had increased to 184 students.
• More than one in four people in homeless situations are employed.
• It is six times more expensive to shelter someone than to provide resources and services that keep them in housing.
• Children of homeowners are estimated to have a 13 percent higher graduation rate and a 9 percent lower chance of receiving welfare.
• Monroe County officials confirmed that there are “street people” living in the area when the Salvation Army’s warming center opened in early 2007, and 37 people came to the center to spend the night indoors during the coldest part of winter.

Last updated April 13, 2008.