The United States Census Bureau is releasing new data revealing the latest developments in what's happening in Virginia.
Income growth has stagnated since the pandemic, according to the latest numbers from the Census Bureau. Hamilton Lombard at the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center says that's the key takeaway from the latest data.
"The trend you see in this data in general is that the D.C. area has had very weak wage growth the last five or six years, and that really fits into what you see happening with the biggest metro areas around the country where income growth has been much slower since the pandemic," Lombard says. "It's tended to be stronger in smaller metro areas and in more rural states."
Overall, the national numbers show poverty is declining. But Levi Goren at the Commonwealth Institute says dig a little deeper and there are some troubling signs.
"While under the official measure, fewer families are struggling, under the measure that takes into account more factors — like healthcare costs, and tax policy and geographic differences in the cost of living — there really wasn't much change," Goren says.
Goren says as a result of actions taken by Congress and the president, families in Virginia will be losing access to health care and food assistance. So, the Census numbers next year are likely to show a decline in well-being measures.
