By TAYLOR STUCK
The Register-Herald
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Despite economic growth, West Virginia was one of just two states to see its poverty rate increase from 2016 to 2017, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
An estimated 336,301 West Virginians lived in poverty in 2017, for a total poverty rate of 19.1 percent – an increase of 1.2 percentage points from 2016. West Virginia’s poverty rate in 2017 was 5.7 percent higher than the national average, and the state had the fourth highest poverty rate among the 50 states in 2017.
The Mountain State’s poverty rate has not declined since the end of the Great Recession.
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