Community Corner

The Real Martha's Vineyard: Poverty Across the Island

More than 15 percent of Vineyard Haven families are living in poverty, compared to just over 7 percent in Edgartown. The map below shows a snapshot of the percentage of Islanders in poverty and the percentage of homes without plumbing.

With Thanksgiving less than a week away, Patch is rolling out a series of maps to raise awareness about people in the area who are doing without. The map above shows a snapshot of the percentage of people living in poverty and the percentage of homes without plumbing across the Island. 

Most people normally don’t think of poverty on Martha's Vineyard.

But according to U.S. Census data from 2011, 15.7 percent of Vineyard Haven families are living in poverty, as well as 7.1 percent in Edgartown, 7.5 percent up-Island and 8.2 percent in Oak Bluffs.

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Similarly, people normally don’t think of water scarcity as being a problem in the U.S. but, in fact, about 10 million people lack access to clean water in developed countries.

Those living below the poverty line are the most likely to be affected. According to recent estimates, that’s one in six Americans.

Vineyard Haven was the only census tract on Martha's Vineyard in which the census data show homes without plumbing: more than 3 percent.

A study based on the 2000 census found that 1.7 million people in U.S. households lack complete plumbing facilities. These were usually poor Americans, living in sparsely populated rural areas or in densely populated urban areas.

The data in this map are from the United States Census Bureau's 2011 American Community Survey. These values are an estimate for 2011 taking into account 60 months of collected data. You can learn more about the survey here.

Using your cursor, you can hover over any census tract – the geographic region defined by the U.S. Census – and see in the box in the upper right hand corner of the map  the percentage of people living in poverty and the percentage of homes without plumbing. Toggle between 'poor families' and 'no plumbing' variables of the map.

Do you think poverty is forcing people to live without running water in Vineyard Haven? Tell us in a comment or a blog post
.

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