Delaware Valley Rebounding, Albeit Slowly, From 2008 Recession, Survey Finds
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Incomes in Philadelphia are going up, but they still have a way to go before getting back to where they were was before the recession.
That is among the findings in the US Census Bureau's most recent American Community Survey, released today.
Median household income in the city increased about $1,500 (to $35,386), and the poverty rate decreased from 28.4 percent to just under 27 percent.
Bucks and Chester counties showed even larger gains. Burlington and Camden counties increased by a slightly smaller margin, and income in Delaware, Montgomery and Gloucester counties fell slightly.
Overall, though, the region is doing better than the rest of the country, according to Ed Welniak of the Census Bureau.
"Median household income is higher than the average for other metropolitan areas," he notes. "The poverty rate is lower than the national average."
Welniak says, though, that income remains significantly lower than it was in 2007. And the poverty rate remains two points higher.
