Two Steps Back: City and Suburban Poverty Trends-1999–2005

Based on data from the 2005 American Community Survey and the Census in 2000, this report from the Brookings Institution analyzes poverty in the 100 largest urban areas in the United States. The percentage of people living in poverty increased in both cities and suburbs between 1999 and 2005, and the child poverty rate rose faster than the overall rate by 3 additional percentage points. The poverty rate in large cities was 18.8 percent- twice as high as in suburbs at 9.4 percent in 2005.