Poverty

& Crime
By Virginia
Martinez & Ximena
Paramo

The Issue At Hand

Povertyandcrimeareincrediblypressingissuestoday,intheUnitedStatesandaround
theglobe.Therearemanydifferentstandardsofpovertydependingonlocation,butitcan
generallybethoughtofasnothavingenoughresourcestohaveanadequatestandardof
living,resourceslikefood,shelter,standardeducation,andhealthcare.Today,1in6
Americansliveinpoverty,andjustlastyear1.6millionchildrenstayedinsheltersor
emergencyhousing.Thesestatisticsareshocking,andpovertyisaveryrelevantissueas
itcontinuestoincrease.
Inaddition,crimeinAmericaisaprevalentsocialissuebutisinfactimproving.Although
crimerateshavedecreasedsincethe80sand90s,intheearly20thcenturycrimerates
werehighercomparedtootherEuropeancountries.Inaddition,againstcommon
stereotype,percentageofoffendersbasedonraceareinteresting:69%White,28.1%
Black,1.4%AmericanIndianandAlaskanNative,and1.2%PacificIslanderorAsian.Yet
therearemanymorethingstotakeintoconsiderationwhenconsideringcrimerates,
especiallyincomparisontopoverty.

Dopovertyandcrimecorrelatewithoneanother?

Ourresearchgoalislookingattherelationshipbetweencrimeandpoverty,specificallyin
America.Todoso,welookedatmanyindicatorssuchasage,race,location,etc.Weasked
manyquestions,forexample:
-

Doesthecostoflivingrelatetopovertyandcrime?

Doespopulationsizerelatetocostoflivingindifferentstates,aswellascrime
ratesandpovertyrates?

Canpopulationaffectcrimeandpovertyrates?

Doesincomelevelplayapartinpovertyandcrimerates?

Someofthemoresignificantdataresultsinclude:

Doesthecostoflivingrelatetopovertyandcrime?

The Issue at Hand: Poverty & Crime in America


CostofLivingandPercentageofPovertyBasedonState
State

CostofLiving

PercentageOf
Poverty

CrimeRates

Alabama

$69,300

16.1

465.7

Alaska

$98,850

10.9

654.4

Arizona

$76,350

18.8

478.6

Arkansas

$69,375

18.7

516.4

California

$95,325

15.9

503.8

Colorado

$75,300

11.9

344.1

Connecticut

$93,900

10.6

306.7

Delaware

$79,275

13.7

708.6

DistrictofColumbia

$104,700

19.9

1,437.70

Florida

$75,775

15

688.9

Georgia

$69,525

17.6

496.1

Hawaii

$122,175

12.3

272.5

Idaho

$70,650

14.4

239.3

Illinois

$71,625

13.4

(NA)

Indiana

$68,025

14.1

375.5

Iowa

$69,375

10.5

298.2

Kansas

$68,475

13.8

415.1

Kentucky

$67,500

18

306.6

Louisiana

$71,475

20.5

658.4

Maine

$82,275

12.8

119.4

Maryland

$88,275

9.8

628.2

Massachusetts

$90,975

11.3

466.2

Michigan

$70,425

14.4

522.2

Minnesota

$76,350

10.7

(NA)

Mississippi

$65,850

20.6

328.7

Missouri

$70,275

14.8

505.2

Montana

$73,950

14.8

302

Nebraska

$68,775

11.2

323.3

Nevada

$75,150

16.2

727.5

NewHampshire

$87,075

8.3

166

NewJersey

$95,700

10.6

326.1

NewMexico

$70,050

21.4

670.6

The Issue at Hand: Poverty & Crime in America

NewYork

$99,150

15.9

401.8

NorthCarolina

$73,350

17

486.6

NorthDakota

$75,300

10.4

200.5

Ohio

$70,575

14.7

385.1

Oklahoma

$67,800

15.3

539.7

Oregon

$91,275

14.3

265

Pennsylvania

$76,200

13

417

RhodeIsland

$90,675

13.5

252.8

SouthCarolina

$72,075

17.2

726.2

SouthDakota

$73,725

12.5

300.6

Tennessee

$67,275

17.7

721.6

Texas

$69,600

17.1

508.2

Utah

$69,750

10.1

225.6

Vermont

$87,900

10.5

140.8

Virginia

$72,750

10.8

258.1

Washington

$76,950

12

332.1

WestVirginia

$73,950

17.2

300.4

Wisconsin

$74,100

11.8

276.9

Wyoming

$69,900

10.7

245.5

Mean

$78,125

14.20980392

433.3979592

Median

$73,950

14.1

385.1

Mode

$76,350

15.9

#N/A

StandardDeviation

11862.83007

3.242237185

222.796017

Variance

140726737.3

10.51210196

49638.0652

The Issue at Hand: Poverty & Crime in America

Ourkeyfindingsfromthisdata:
-

Povertyratesgreatlyvaryindifferentstates,especiallyaroundthe
$70,000
costof
livingstates

TheaveragecostoflivinginAmericais
$78,125

Theaverageamountofpovertyis
14.2%

Accordingtoourdata,costofliving
doesnot
correlatewithpovertyratesinstates

Thetrenddecreases,whichisinterestingbecauseitimpliesthatascostofliving
increasesthepovertyratesdecrease

The Issue at Hand: Poverty & Crime in America

Yetthisdatasregressionlineis.0666and9.989E-3,whichmeansthereisntcredible
correlationbetweenpoverty/crimeandthecostoflivingbasedonstates.

Doespopulationsizerelatetocostoflivingindifferentstates,aswellascrimeratesand

povertyrates?

The Issue at Hand: Poverty & Crime in America


Interestinglyenough,thereseemstobenoregressionline,atleastnothighenoughto
indicateaconcretecomparisonbetweenpopulationandpoverty,crime,andcostofliving.
Asisseenfromthegraphs,majorityofthedots(representingstates)areclusteredtothe
lowerlefthandarea.Thisindicatesthatthereisalargerangeofcrime,poverty,andcost
oflivinginstatepopulationsof10millionandlower.

OurConclusions
Povertyandcrimeareinevitabilityrelevantissues,yetwerecommendthatthe
concerningrisingratesofpovertybenoticedandtakenintoconsideration.Although
thereisnodirectcorrelationbetweenpovertyratesandthecostofliving,itisevident
thattheincreasingcostoflivinggreatlyvarieson
where
thevalueofthedollarstands
dependingonlocation.TheU.Sisadiversecountry,wherepricesriseandfalldepending
onavailabilityanddemand.Werecommendusingthisinformationtodrawyourown
observationsandconclusions,andtoassistinunderstandingpovertyandcrime.
Ourinitialpredictionsseemtobeprovedwrongyetwekeepinmindthatourfindings
onlyeliminateafewquestionsoutoftheinfiniteamountofquestionsandhypothesisto
therelationshipbetweencrimeandpovertyintheUnitedStates.

Limitations

The Issue at Hand: Poverty & Crime in America

Ourdatacomesfromseveralsources,andfromvariousyears.Forexample,ourdataon
povertyratesisfrom2011to2013,whereasweusedacollectedrateofpovertyandcrime
from1969-2013tocomparetheratesofpovertyandcrime.

References
1. U.SBureauoftheCensus
2. CurrentPopulationSurvey
3. FBIUCSAnnualCrimeReports
4. BureauofJusticeStatistics
*Manyofthesesourceswereusedinlocatingseveralpiecesofrawdata.

Authors
VirginiaMartinez
XimenaParamo

The Issue at Hand: Poverty & Crime in America