Monthly Archives: May 2012

Educational attainment at the national and local levels for Michigan for adults ages 25 and older

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This week’s graphs consider the highest level of education attained by those aged 25 years and older, at the national, state, county and city levels, based on the 2006-2010 five-year estimate data from the American Community Survey.

More than half (56.0%) of the nation’s population, 25 years and older, had at least some college education. Slightly more than a quarter of the 25 and older population (27.9%) had a bachelor’s or graduate degree. The majority of those 25 and older had at least graduated high school or obtained an equivalent certificate (85.0%).

When breaking educational attainment down by gender, the data shows the percentage of males and females with a bachelor’s degree were almost equal (17.7% for males versus 17.5% for females). The percent of males who had a graduate degree was slightly higher than the percent of females (10.9% versus 9.8%).

Of Michigan residents aged 25 and older, 88.1 percent had at least graduated from high school or received an equivalency certificate. As in the nation, more than half (56.6%) of the state’s population had at least some college education. About a quarter of the 25 and older population (25.1%) had a bachelor’s or graduate degree. Similar to national rates, Michigan’s educational attainment percentages for females and males were very close

Of Wayne County residents aged 25 and older, 83.2 percent had at least graduated from high school or received an equivalency certificate, while 16.8 percent of Wayne County residents 25 and older had less than a high school education (17.5% of males and 16.2% of females). Approximately half (51%) had at least some college education. About one-fifth of the 25 and older population (20.2%) had a bachelor’s or graduate degree.

Of Detroiters aged 25 and older, 76.8 percent had at least graduated from high school or received an equivalency certificate, while nearly a quarter (23.2%) had less than a high school education (25.5% of males and 21.3% of females). Less than half (42.8%) had at least some college education. More than one-tenth of the 25 and older population (11.8%) had a bachelor’s or graduate degree.

Of the geographic four levels, the state had the highest percentage of residents aged 25 and older who had at least graduated from high school or received an equivalency certificate (88.1% in Michigan, compared to 85.0% in the U.S., 83.2% in Wayne, and 76.8% in Detroit). The percentage of people who had at least an associate’s degree was lower when examining the data at the more local levels: Detroit had a lower percentage of residents with undergraduate or graduate degrees (18.1%) than Wayne County (27.1%), Michigan (33.2%),  and the United States (35.4%). Additionally at the local levels, there were higher percentages of people who had taken college classes, but not completed a degree.

To learn more about factors that contribute to educational attainment and to see further breakdowns of education data at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels check back with Drawing Detroit for future posts.

Child poverty in Detroit and Michigan

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This graph presents the portion of children living at or below the poverty level in Detroit and Michigan in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In Detroit, the percentage of children in poverty increased from 2008 to 2009, and again from 2009 to 2010. In Michigan, the percentage of children in poverty increased from 2008 to 2009, but remained at the 2009 level, 23 percent, in 2010.

Considering Detroit children by age (the age groups of 0 to 5 years old and those less than 18 years old), each group suffered an increase in poverty from 2008 to 2010. The percent of children ages 6 to 17 years old living in poverty in Detroit decreased from 2008 to 2009, but increased slightly from 2009 to 2010. The most serious increase affected children 0 to 5 years old; 58 percent of the children in that group were in poverty in 2010, a 10 percent increase from 2008.
In the City of Detroit, the number of children living below 150 percent of the poverty level increased from 2008 to 2009, and from 2009 to 2010. Statewide, the same trend occurred. Living 150 percent below the poverty means that individual, or their family, is making 150 percent of what the poverty threshold is for that year. Since it is over 100 percent that number translates into the family’s income being higher than the poverty threshold; if it were below 100 percent thought it would be less than the threshold. For example, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Home Services, a family of two earning an annual income of $21,855 was considered being 150 percent below the poverty level in 2010. The poverty threshold for that year for a family of the same size was $14,570. A family of two that was 50 percent below the poverty level earned $7,285 in 2010. In all three years shown in this graph, the percentage of children in the City of Detroit living below 150 percent of the poverty level was much larger than it was throughout the State of Michigan. By 2010, the level in Detroit was more than double the State’s level. To learn more about poverty and what it means visit here.
In the City of Detroit and in the State of Michigan, the percentage of children living below 200 percent of the poverty level increased each year from 2008 to 2010. The percentage of children in the City of Detroit living below 200 percent of the poverty level was much larger than it was throughout the State of Michigan for all three years.
The percentage of children living below 250 percent of the poverty level in the City of Detroit steadily increased from 2008 to 2010. During this same time period, the state experienced a similar trend. In all three years, however, the percentage of children in Detroit living below 250 percent of the poverty level was much larger than it was throughout the State of Michigan.

Analysis of pedestrian and bicycle crash incidents around Detroit schools

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Pedestrian and bicycle crash incidents, K-8 schools Detroit, 2008-2010

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The image above portrays the spatial distribution of pedestrian and bicycle crashes within one mile of several K-8 school. For the years 2008-2010, there were a total of 388 bicycle and 1,414 pedestrian crash incidents. These resulted in 89 fatalities and 1,339 injuries. “Hotspots” (significant clusters of high number of crashes-red) were observed in the northeast and southwest part of the city. On the other hand, “coldspots” (significant clusters of low number of crashes-blue) were observed in the northwest part of the city. They were also somewhat clustered in the mid-central part of the city.

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The table above shows the number of pedestrian and bicycle crash incidents that occurred within one  mile of a kindergarten through eighth (K-8) grade school in the City of Detroit from 2008 to 2010. Each school shown in this chart had at least 10 incidents occur in that time frame;  Priest Elementary School recorded the highest crash count with 15.

Private sector jobs created during each presidency from 1961-2012

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On May 8, Bloomberg News published an article by Bob Drummond about how more jobs have been created while Democrats were in the presidency from 1961-2012. This article, which was also discussed on dailybeast.com on May 10, not only references the recent growth in jobs, which have been less than expected, but also looks at the past. Clinton’s presidency is the main focus when Drummond examines the past. Bloomberg News created a graph like the second one below. However, we wanted to take the news outlet’s idea one step farther. Below you will see a bar chart where the number of private jobs created during each presidency is in sequential form, but separated by party. There is also a pie chart that shows the total number of private jobs created during Democrat and Republican presidencies from 1961-2012.

The Bloomberg article can be found here.

The Daily Beast article can be found here.

Check here to see a more thorough outlook on job creation during the Bush administration.

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These charts show the number of private sector jobs created by each presidency, starting with John F. Kennedy and ending with the current president, Barack Obama. According to the information provided from Bloomberg, citing the U.S. Department of Labor, Democrats created the most jobs during this 51-year time span. Democrats created about 42 million private jobs while Republicans created about 24 million.

Bill Clinton’s presidency, from 1993 to 2001, created the most private jobs. During George W. Bush’s eight years as president, there was a loss in private sector job growth. Obama has created the least amount of private jobs for a Democrat so far; his first term as president will end in 2013.

Changes in poverty:Michigan and Metro-Detroit

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From 1980 to 2010 the U.S. poverty rate has remained between about 11 and 15 percent. The only times it reached about 15 percent was in 1983, 1993, and most recently, in 2010. In the last two decades the lowest poverty rate experienced was in 2000 when it was at 11.3 percent. Since that time though the poverty rate in the U.S. has slowly increased to 15.1 percent.

For a definition of the poverty rate visit the U.S. Census Bureau here.

There have been about the same amount of peaks in the poverty rate in Michigan as there have been in the country. Michigan has also experienced poverty rates above those at the national level several times. For example, in 1983 when the U.S. poverty rate was at 15.1 percent Michigan’s was at 16.8 percent and in 2010 the U.S. poverty rate was 15.1 percent and Michigan’s was 15.5 percent. In the last two decades, Michigan experienced its highest poverty rate in 1983 and its lowest in 2001, when it was at 9.4 percent. Since 2001, the lowest poverty rate the state has reached was 10.8 percent, which was in 2007. From 2007 to 2010 the poverty rate continued to increase until it reached 15.5 percent.

The poverty levels in Wayne County have consistently remained higher than those in Oakland and Macomb counties. From 1997 to 2000 the percent of people in poverty were nearly overlapping in Oakland and Macomb counties. From 2000 to 2006 though, the poverty rates in Oakland County fell below those in Macomb County. But, in 2007 there was a change. The poverty rate in Macomb County remained steady from 2006 to 2007 while the poverty rate in Oakland County increased from 6.9 to 8.9 percent, bringing it above Macomb’s 8.3 percent. In 2008 though it dropped down to 8.6 percent, which was below Macomb County’s poverty rate of 9.4 percent. Oakland County’s poverty level has since remained lower than those in Macomb County and Wayne County. In Wayne County the poverty level began to decline from 1997 to 2000 (it went from 18 to 14 percent). By 2010 Wayne County’s poverty rate had increased to 24 percent, an all time high.
Although the Census only provides consecutive poverty rates for the City of Detroit from 2005 to 2010, the information on these six years show that Detroit’s poverty rate has remained above national, state, and county poverty levels.  From 2005 to 2010 Detroit’s poverty levels ranged from about 31 to 36 percent, the highest being in 2010.  The 2000 Census states that Detroit’s poverty rate was 26.1 percent in 1999; it was 11.9 percent in the U.S. at that time and 10 percent in Michigan.

As shown in the chart, the City of Detroit has a much higher poverty rate than the state, region, and country. Michigan and the U.S. had very similar rates, but Detroit’s poverty rate was at 35.5 percent, more than double any of the other areas.

At first glance: Makeup of income for Michigan, Detroit

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While the median household income in the United States steadily increased from 2000 to 2010, it decreased in Detroit from 2000 to 2010. The median household income in the State of Michigan was higher than that of the United States in 2000, about the same in 2005, and lower in 2010. Wayne County’s median household income remained fairly steady during this time period.
Of the four geographic areas represented in this graph, the United States is the only one that showed a steady increase in the median family income from 2000 to 2010. While Michigan had a higher median family income in 2000 and 2005 compared to that of the United States, Michigan’s median family income was lower than that of the United States in 2010. In 2010, Detroit’s median family income was a little more than half of that of the United States.
In 2000 and 2005, the State of Michigan had a lower percentage of families whose income was below the poverty level than that of the United States, but, in 2010, the opposite was true . In 2010, Detroit had nearly three times the percentage of families whose income was below the poverty level than that of the United States. Regardless of geographic location, the percentage of families whose income was below the poverty level increased from 2000 to 2010.
In the United States, the percentage of families with children under 18 living in poverty increased by roughly two percentage points every five years from 2000 to 2010. The other three geographic areas had much larger increases in this category during the same period. In fact, in 2010, nearly half of families with children under 18 living in Detroit had an income below the poverty level.
In 2010, nearly half of families with children under 5 living in Detroit had an income below the poverty level, which was over a 10 percent increase from 2005. The percentage of families with children under 5 living in Detroit was roughly twice that of families living in Michigan and more than twice that of families living the United States. How much of this change is as a result of decline of family income and how much is from out-migration of higher income families from Detroit will have to await further analysis.