Washington’s Hispanic poverty rate falls, but disparities linger

Nearly 15% of Washington's Hispanic residents were living in poverty as of 2022, compared to 10% of the state's residents overall, per the latest census data.

• That's compared to 15.5% of Hispanic residents and 9.9% of all residents in Washington in 2021, and 24.8% of Hispanic residents and 11.9% of all the state's residents in 2005.

The big picture: The percentage of U.S. Latinos living in poverty has dropped significantly in the last decade, but is well above the national average for all groups.

Why it matters: Latinos comprise 19% of the population and are set to be a plurality of the country's population by midcentury. Failure to address systemic economic inequalities may threaten the nation's economic future.

Zoom in: Latinos in Alabama had the nation's highest poverty rate (27.6%), according to an Axios analysis of census data.

• Montana was second (24.2%), followed by Pennsylvania (23.9%).

Yes, but: Wyoming had the lowest percentage of Latinos living in poverty (10.2%), likely because of the large number of well-paying oil and gas jobs there.

• North Dakota, which also has many oil and gas jobs — and which saw the fastest Hispanic population growth of any state over the last decade — had a Latino poverty rate of 12.5%.

What they're saying: Addressing poverty is one of the most pressing issues facing Hispanics in the U.S., says José Jurado Vadillo, a research economist at the Seidman Institute, Arizona State University.

• Better access to credit and to quality education would help reduce Latino poverty, Vadillo adds.

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