Income Declines in Hartland, Brighton Mirror Livingston County Trend That Leads Nation

The Brighton and Hartland areas echo a stat where Livingston County had the biggest drop in median income from 2000 to 2010, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek inflation-adjusted analysis of U.S. Census Bureau statistics.

The magazine reported the county fell to $72,129, a decline of $15,491 or 18 percent from 2000 figures when adjusted for inflation. The local drops come as the county increased population 15 percent over the same peroid, which was the second highest in the state.

Locally, the city of Brighton median income fell 25 percent while Hartland dropped 20 percent and Brighton Township 15 percent, according to a Patch analysis using the same statistics to calculate values in 2011 dollars.

When comparing actual dollars, however, only the city of Brighton shows a slight decline. (See tables below).

Bloomberg's article — which primarily focuses on a decline in income from investments — was done following Thursday's release of the latest numbers of the five-year version of the American Community Survey. The survey replaced the census long-form and annually polls 3.5 million U.S. households.

The latest income numbers show how hard Michigan has been recent years as 82 of 83 counties in the state lost ground. Nationwide, two out of every three counties fell nationwide, according to Bloomberg.

Paul Tait, executive director of the Southeastern Michigan Council of Governments, blamed the struggles in the manufacturing sector for the drop, according to an article in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus. He also noted growth areas, such as health and education, don't pay as much.

Even with the dip, the county remained much higher than the national average of $51,914, according to Bloomberg.

Still, social services stats are on the rise, according to a recent United Way news release that's promoting its latest fund drive. Local numbers include:

• "Poverty in Livingston County has doubled over the last five years, with an estimated 12 percent of the total population currently living in poverty.
• The number of students receiving free and reduced school lunches has almost tripled over the last decade, currently representing 24 percent of total public school enrollment.
• Livingston County has nearly 16,400 residents on Medicaid, up 14 percent since October, 2009.
• It is anticipated that between March, 2011 and June, 2012, an additional 10,000 area residents will lose unemployment benefits.
• 40 percent of all calls received by the United Way’s 2-1-1 Regional Call Center are requests for basic needs services (food, rent or mortgage payment assistance, shelter, help with utilities, etc.)"