NYS Census – Income

A look at income distribution patterns in New York State. Where’s the wealth?

Percent Receiving Cash Assistance

How many people in your neighborhood get Temporary Cash Assistance welfare from the state? This interactive map shows the percentage of people receiving this form of government assistance.

Data Source: SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES, 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_16_5YR_DP02&src=pt

GINI Index by NY County

The Gini index is a measurement of the income distribution of a community’s residents. This number, which ranges between 0 and 1 and is based on residents’ net income, helps define the gap between the rich and the poor, with 0 representing perfect equality (everybody has about the same income) and 1 representing perfect inequality (some are very rich, some are very poor).

Geography Estimate; Gini Index
Schuyler County, New York 0.3852
Wyoming County, New York 0.387
Washington County, New York 0.3972
Livingston County, New York 0.3991
Wayne County, New York 0.4018
Hamilton County, New York 0.403
Orleans County, New York 0.4063
Chenango County, New York 0.4106
Genesee County, New York 0.4107
Cayuga County, New York 0.4122
Saratoga County, New York 0.4126
Lewis County, New York 0.4136
Jefferson County, New York 0.4159
Seneca County, New York 0.4171
Allegany County, New York 0.4184
Herkimer County, New York 0.4185
Putnam County, New York 0.4194
Cattaraugus County, New York 0.4196
Cortland County, New York 0.4219
Schoharie County, New York 0.4222
Essex County, New York 0.4231
Rensselaer County, New York 0.4235
Fulton County, New York 0.4236
Madison County, New York 0.4236
Suffolk County, New York 0.4267
Ontario County, New York 0.4276
Oswego County, New York 0.428
Delaware County, New York 0.4284
Dutchess County, New York 0.4317
Chautauqua County, New York 0.4323
Orange County, New York 0.4323
Tioga County, New York 0.4326
Schenectady County, New York 0.4327
Warren County, New York 0.4335
Franklin County, New York 0.4357
Otsego County, New York 0.437
Steuben County, New York 0.4374
Greene County, New York 0.4375
Clinton County, New York 0.4385
Niagara County, New York 0.4391
Yates County, New York 0.4398
Richmond County, New York 0.441
Queens County, New York 0.4457
Oneida County, New York 0.4462
Montgomery County, New York 0.4472
Broome County, New York 0.4484
Rockland County, New York 0.4496
Albany County, New York 0.45
Nassau County, New York 0.4523
Columbia County, New York 0.4527
Sullivan County, New York 0.4542
Ulster County, New York 0.4556
St. Lawrence County, New York 0.4561
Chemung County, New York 0.4566
Erie County, New York 0.457
Onondaga County, New York 0.4573
Monroe County, New York 0.4631
Tompkins County, New York 0.4925
Bronx County, New York 0.4946
Kings County, New York 0.5111
Westchester County, New York 0.5342
New York County, New York 0.5975

Median Cash Assistance

Traditional welfare, aka Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) is a very modest benefit to very poor families, typically with children, to provide them with a few thousand dollars each year in funds for basic necessity. This map shows the average TCA benefit per census tract for those who receive cash welfare. TCA is relatively difficult to get, which is why in many Census Tracts the data is unavailable or the sample size is too small to be reliable.

Data Source: SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES, 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_16_5YR_DP02&src=pt

Percentage Of Population Recieving Food Stamps

With SNAP aka Food Stamps being in the news, I thought it would be interesting to do a map showing what percentage of people in our state in each Census Tract have received SNAP benefits in the past twelve months.

Data Source: SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES, 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_16_5YR_DP02&src=pt