Click here to download a CMAP spreadsheet with analysis of 2007 county median household income, poverty rates for individuals and poverty rates for families, released by the U.S. Census Bureau on August 26, 2008.  Click here to visit the bureau's American Factfinder website.  The bullet points below summarize some of the key findings.  For further information, please contact Jon Hallas, 312-386-8764 or jhallas@cmap.illinois.gov.

County Median Household Income Estimates – data provided for years 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2000 with values were adjusted to 2007 dollars

• 2007 median household income decreased since year 2000 in 5 of 7 counties in the region – Cook, DuPage, Kane, McHenry and Will.
• The highest median household income by year were Lake, (year 2007 - $77,834), Lake (year 2006 - $77,311), Kendall (year 2005 - $80,707), and DuPage (year 2000 - $81,741)
• The greatest range of income was Kane County with a range of $12,257 ($77,813 in year 2000, $65,556 in year 2006). Cook County had the smallest range in income, fluctuating by only $3,325 ($55,294 in year 2000 and $51,968 in year 2005).
  

Poverty Status of Individuals by County – data expressed as percentages for years 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2000

• When all four years of data are considered, the highest percentage of persons below poverty level was 15.3%, for Cook County in year 2006.The lowest percent of persons below poverty – 1.2%, was estimated for Kendall County in year 2005.
• Kendall County showed the lowest percent of persons below poverty for years 2007, 2005 and 2000. In year 2006 the lowest estimate for persons below poverty was for DuPage County.
  

Poverty Status of Families by County – categories of families include all families, married-couple families and Female householder, no husband present. Data are expressed as percentages for years 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2000

•  When comparing estimates for year 2000 and year 2007, there is an increase in the percent of families below poverty level for all counties in the regionIn almost all instances, Female householder, no husband present families showed a substantially higher percentage compared to Married-couple families and All families.
• Married-couple families consistently exhibited the lowest percent of families below poverty level.Collar counties showed consistently lower percent of families below poverty level for all three categories of families.

Analyses by Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) in support of the GO TO 2040 plan.