More than 10% of Polk County's residents lived below poverty level in 2020, according to five-year estimates released last month by the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Story County had the highest share in the state, at 20%.
Zoom out: As Axios' interactive U.S. map shows, poverty during the pandemic was most concentrated in Appalachia, the South, Southwest and South Dakota.
- Overall, national poverty rates have decreased from 15.5% in 2011-2015 to 12.8% in 2016–2020.
- Iowa's rate, at 9.2%, fell more than 2 percentage points during that period.
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