Determinants of County-Level Poverty Rates in 2017: An Upper-Midwest Comparison

Authors

Trey V. Perez, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's UniversityFollow

Abstract

The American upper-Midwest as a region throughout the 2010s has experienced lower-than-average poverty rates. This paper seeks to uncover the determinants that have the greatest impact on the county-level poverty rates for five states (Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas). Outcomes for this study came from an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression to estimate the impact each independent variable had on the poverty rate. The empirical results showed the unemployment rate, the percentage of households headed solely by females, and percent of the population that was Native American in 2017 had a significant impact on a county’s poverty rate.

Recommended Citation

Perez, Trey V. (2019) "Determinants of County-Level Poverty Rates in 2017: An Upper-Midwest Comparison," Undergraduate Economic Review: Vol. 16: Iss. 1, Article 21.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/uer/vol16/iss1/21