Health Coverage, Income and Transit: the Census Shapes Up the Average Atlantan
Courtesy: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office
[The following is a loose transcript of the on-air version. To hear the feature as-aired on Monday’s 5:44, click the listen icon below.]On-air version of Monday's 5:44
Jim Burress: Each year, the U.S. Census compiles exhaustive data into the American Community Survey. That compilation includes all kinds of categories.
So to get a glimpse of the average Atlantan, we picked three:
Average income
Average commute
Rate of healthcare coverage.
Let’s start with pay.
During lunch today, I put on the spot…
Cameron: “Hi. My name is Cameron Aimes. I’m a bartender at Café 640.”
Burress: “So do you believe the average Atlanta household income went up, down, or stayed the same? And why?”
Cameron: “Just based on more financial stability and sort of optimistic signs like that, I’d say it’s probably gone up.”
Burress: The survey says … $52,639 in 2011.
$54,628 in 2012…that’s an increase of about 3.5%
Before you get too excited about all that extra money, consider where we were pre-recession. We’re talking 2007.
Ed Welnick: “My name is Ed Welnick. I’m chief of the Income Statistics Division.”
Burress: Ed is one of the data crunchers with the U.S. Census Dept. The news–not great.
Welnick: “Income is down. It’s down in the Atlanta area. It was down in the Georgia state [area], and it’s down nationally as well.”
Burress: In 2007 figures, average income was $63,000. We still have a long ways to go. The poverty rate remains steady at about 17%.
There’s a good chance you’re listening now in your car. Remember back to the big bust circa 2008, when gas shot up and people were looking for anything but a car to get around in? Suddenly, scooters were the rage?
So what about Atlanta’s latest commuting habits? The survey says!
Brian Carr: “The status quo appears to be returning after having several years of economic downturn.”
Burress: Brian Carr is a spokesman with the Clean Air Campaign. He looked at the Census transit data and found more of us are working, which means more of us are commuting. But from his standpoint, that’s not necessarily a good thing.
Carr: “The number of people driving alone continues to remain at a very high level in this region. And the number of people using alternatives has stayed very flat.”
Burress: Most of us live in one county and commute 30-minutes to work in another.
All that traffic is enough to make your head spin. If that actually happens, as in literally, you might need to see an exorcist. Maybe a doctor. In that case, health insurance would be a good thing.
So how many of us have health coverage? My colleague Martha Dalton helped me out with this one.
She asked Georgia State student Ian Stewart whether more Atlantans had coverage, if fewer did, or if the rate stayed constant.
Ian Stewart: “I feel like most people don’t know about our healthcare laws right now, so I feel because of that, people aren’t even getting into it.”
Burress: The Census Dept.’s Ed Welnick agreed that next year’s report will likely fluctuate because of the Affordable Care Act. But for 2012, health insurance coverage increased. Slightly more than 18% of the population of Atlanta doesn’t have coverage. That’s down from about 20%. And with the Affordable Care Act bringing an insurance mandate, it’s likely that number will fall considerably by next year.
Where do you fit? Tweet us @WABEnews or leave us a comment at Facebook.com/wabe.
(A disclaimer: The Clean Air Campaign is an underwriter of WABE.)
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