Census: Poverty worst for American Indians

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- American Indians have the highest poverty rate of any ethnic group in the United States, the U.S. Census Bureau said Wednesday.

The group, which includes both Inuit and Indian residents of Alaska, has an overall poverty rate of 27 percent, demographers said. Blacks are the only other group with a poverty rate more than 10 percent above the national average of 14.3 percent, with 25.8 percent living in poverty.

Whites and Asians had poverty rates below the average, while Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders were slightly above average at 17.6 percent and Hispanics had a poverty rate of 23.2 percent.

Census officials said the American Community Survey allows reporting of detailed information for ethnic and other groups.

"With the American Community Survey, we can look at the poverty rates for even the smallest race and Hispanic-origin groups," said Suzanne Macartney, an analyst in the poverty statistics branch.

Among Hispanics, people of Cuban descent had the lowest poverty rate, 16.2 percent, while Dominicans had the highest, 26.3 percent. Vietnamese and Koreans had similar rates of 14.7 percent and 15.0 percent, while the rate for Filipinos is 5.8 percent.