Economic statistics for Monroe County, Mich.

The past few years have been pretty rough economically for Monroe County, Mich. Here are some of the statistics that are reported by the area media,  government agencies and non-profit agencies.

The statistics that I refer to most often on Monroe on a Budget are the unemployment rates; median household income (half the families make more, half the families make less); and the percentage of students on free or reduced-price lunches.

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The unemployment rate for Monroe County, Mich.:

• June 2009: 17 percent.
• July 2009: 17 percent.
• August 2009: 14.8 percent.
• September 2009: 14.2 percent.

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The unemployment rate for the state of Michigan:

• June 2009: 15.2 percent.
• July 2009: 15 percent.
• August 2009: 15.2 percent.
• September 2009: 15.3 percent (highest state rate in the nation for that month).
• October 2009: 15.1 percent.

These summer 2009 numbers are reported to be the worst statewide unemployment rate since 1983.

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The Michigan median household income as reported by the U.S. Census bureau:

• 2007: $49,800.
• 2008: $48,600. Yes, there was a decline.

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The Monroe County, Mich., median household income as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau:

• 2006: $54,444.
• 2007: $53,750. Yes, there was a decline.

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According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average worker in Monroe County, Mich., commuted 24.6 minutes to work during 2008 as compared to 23.8 minutes in  2007.

Further details from the 2008 data report that 9.6 percent of the worker population carpooled – which is a big jump from 5.7 percent in 2005 when the regional economy was still doing well.

There is public transit within the city of Monroe and fringe areas of Monroe Township and Frenchtown Township via a city bus system. The city itself is also very friendly to walkers and bikers with a network of sidewalks and trails. But there is no public transit to take people from Monroe to the metro areas of Detroit, Toledo or Ann Arbor.

Based on the 2008 Census data, my co-worker Charles Slat did an analysis about the commuting and carpool trends for the Sept. 24, 2009, edition of The Monroe Evening News. Among his findings: The percentage of those who said they worked at home fell from 3.4 percent in 2005 to 1.5 percent in 2008.

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Southeast Michigan is a region where historically, a high school education was sufficient in order to get a good-paying job that would support a family.

That’s the context in which to understand this data from the 2008 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau:

• Adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher: 16.4 percent.
• Adults older than 25 without a high school diploma: 11.5 percent.

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There have been a lot of foreclosures in the past couple of years in Monroe County, Mich., which explains this data from the U.S. Census Bureau:

• Percentage of owner occupied homes in 2007: 80.1 percent. The median housing value was $176,600.
• Percentage of owner occupied homes in 2008: 79.7 percent. The median housing value was $169,400.

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The number of families in Monroe County, Mich., who lived at the poverty level, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates:

• 2006: 7.3 percent
• 2007: 7.8 percent.
• 2008: 10.6 percent.

This increase is resulting in a strain on the traditional safety net programs that are aimed at the poorest of the poor. Many of government programs are aimed at those who make 200 percent of poverty level or less.

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The number of families in Monroe County, Mich., who are receiving food stamps, according to U.S. Census Bureau reports:

• 2007: 10.4 percent.
• 2008: 12.2 percent.

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U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis is based on total personal income for the area, then divided on a per-person basis. Here is the personal income bracket for Monroe, Mich.,  as reported Aug. 6, 2009, by this analysis:

• 2004: $30,214.
• 2005: $30,553.
• 2006: $31,253.
• 2007: $32,355.
• 2008: $32,196.

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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.

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Specifically for Monroe Public Schools, 38 percent of its students received free or reduced-price lunches during the 2007-08 school year. That number keeps going up, as MPS is reporting that 2,865 students in Monroe Public Schools – nearly 45 percent of the student body – were eligible for free or reduced-price lunches.

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Monroe County, Mich., population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau:

• 2007:153,331.
• 2008: 152,949. This was the first decline in 26 years.

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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 statistics that the committee is reviewing in preparation for the 2009 awareness week includes these information points:

• The Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness reported in 2008 that the major factors contributing to homelessness are lack of affordable housing, debt, lack of income, disabilities, lack of employment or underemployment.
• About 10 percent of Monroe County residents are living in the poverty level. While the network’s statistic is from 2005, the poverty level income range in 2008 benchmarks is $10,400 for one person; $14,000 for a family of two; $21,200 for a family of four.
• Monroe Public Schools reported 174 students identified as homeless during the 2007-2008 school year. Students who are officially reported as homeless are eligible for free lunch and can receive transportation or tutoring assistance.
• Attendance at the Monroe God Works! and community dinners hosted by area churches has risen to about 140 people a night, 40 percent of whom are families.
• The 2008 fair market rent in Monroe County was pegged at $779 a month for a two-bedroom apartment and $1,017 a month for a three-bedroom apartment. With these rates, a family of four with two people working full time at minimum wage would earn $29,744 and spend 41 percent of their income just on rent. The commonly accepted affordable housing percentage is 30 percent of income for rent plus utilities.

Last updated Nov. 18, 2009.