

Impoverished neighborhoods on the rise in Houston's suburbs

 –  Reporter, Houston Business Journal

Poverty is often thought of as an “inner city” problem, but it is increasingly spreading out into the suburbs, according to a new report.

Apartment List, an online rental marketplace, analyzed housing data from Harvard University, and found that Houston had the eighth highest increase nationally in the number of suburbs where at least 20 percent of the population is living in poverty. The U.S. Census Bureau defines poverty as a family of four, including two children, making less than $24,339 a year.

Houston has 218 impoverished suburban neighborhoods, an increase of 69 neighborhoods between 2000 and and 2015, according to Apartment List.

Among the top 10 U.S. metropolitan cities with the largest increase in impoverished suburban neighborhoods, many were located in Southern states with sprawling cities. In fact, 6 out of 10 metros with the largest increase in suburban poverty are located in the South, including Atlanta, Phoenix, San Antonio, Miami, Tampa and Orlando.

Cities in the Midwest and the Rust Belt also saw a surge in suburban poverty. Chicago and Detroit had the largest increase nationally in the number of impoverished suburbs, according to Apartment List.

Poverty is spreading out to the suburbs as a wave of college-educated Millennials and retiring Baby Boomers are moving into urban neighborhoods, driving up inner-city home prices and driving out low-income families into the suburbs where housing is more affordable, according to Apartment List.

The so-called “suburbanization of poverty” is now forcing city leaders to consider ways to provide jobs, transportation and social services farther out from the urban core, where safety-net programs aimed at reducing poverty have historically been located, according to Apartment List. This growing phenomenon will also have wide-ranging impacts for employers and housing markets, particularly home prices, in Houston's suburbs.

Here’s where Houston stands in relation to other major U.S. metros with the largest increase in suburban poverty:

  1. Atlanta: Increase of 166 suburban neighborhoods with at least 20 percent of population living in poverty between 2000 and 2015
  2. Dallas: Increase of 115 impoverished suburban neighborhoods
  3. Detroit: Increase of 104 impoverished suburban neighborhoods
  4. Charlotte: Increase of 100 impoverished suburban neighborhoods
  5. Riverside, California: Increase of 95 impoverished suburban neighborhoods
  6. Chicago: Increase of 83 impoverished suburban neighborhoods
  7. Tampa: Increase of 80 impoverished suburban neighborhoods
  8. Houston: Increase of 69 impoverished suburban neighborhoods
  9. Orlando: Increase of 68 impoverished suburban neighborhoods
  10. Indianapolis: Increase of 62 impoverished suburban neighborhoods
 –  Reporter, Houston Business Journal