Spatiotemporal Trends of Poverty in the United States, 2006–2021

Recent challenges and opportunities necessitate a reexamination of the spatial dynamics of US poverty. In our study, we employed the emerging hot spot analysis to discern spatial and temporal variations in US poverty from 2006 to 2021, across various spatial scales. The primary innovation of this analysis is its capacity to monitor shifts in spatial patterns of poverty over time, providing a dynamic perspective essential for comprehending and addressing non-static processes. We discovered that the majority of US counties exhibit consistent poverty trends, characterized by either persistent or intensifying hot spots (clusters of high poverty) or cold spots (clusters of low poverty), with only a minority experiencing recent changes in poverty trajectories. The choice of spatial scale significantly influences these trends. Our intersectional analysis of poverty with age and race demonstrated that the categories of children and adults have a markedly higher number of counties with persistent and intensifying hot spots compared to the elderly category. Nonetheless, the elderly category has a greater number of new emerging hot spots. Furthermore, our exploration of the interaction between race and poverty dynamics showed that the spatial patterns of emerging poverty hot spots vary among racial groups and do not align with their population distributions. These findings underscore the need for a nuanced and adaptive approach to policy development and implementation.