Median income in Ohio hits 27-year low

The fact that this states electoral votes are even close to being up for grabs is truely scary.

Ohio households were poorer last year than they’ve been in more than 25 years, and the number of people living in poverty is higher than it’s been in more than 30 years, according to a census report released yesterday.

When adjusted for inflation, the 2010 annual median household income in Ohio of $46,093 was down by $543 from the previous year, and down 15.3 percent from the peak of $54,395 in 2000, according to the census’s Current Population Survey, which was released yesterday.

Ohio’s level of poverty — 15.3 percent — was worse than the nation’s, which was at 15.1 percent. Ohio’s level jumped 2 percentage points from 2009; it has never been this high since those records were first kept in 1980.

The 15.3 percent translates into 1.74 million Ohio residents living below the poverty line last year, which means a family of four making less than $22,300 a year. About 639,000 Ohioans younger than 18 were in poverty, and 244,000 children younger than 5 were.