SUMMARY: Poverty & Latinos in Coachella Valley

Background

Poverty is calculated by combining annual household income with the number of people residing in the home. In 2016, these were the federal poverty guidelines:

Thus, a family of four with an annual household income of $24,000 is considered to be “below the poverty line”, or “living in poverty”. Because the poverty line is generally considered to be extremely low, many health and human services agencies use 200% of the poverty line as their cut-off for providing low-to-no-cost services. “200% of the poverty line” simply means you multiply the maximum dollar amount by two. Thus, a family of four with an annual household income of $48,000 is considered to be living “under 200% of the poverty line” or “near poverty”. 

Photo Credit: Google Maps

Poverty Findings

Hispanic/Latino people in the Coachella Valley are significantly more likely to live in poverty than non-Hispanic people. Most local Hispanic/Latinos live in or near poverty. 

Adults

• Approximately 42% of local Hispanic/Latino adults are living below the federal poverty line (more than 39,950 people). In contrast, only 16% of non-Hispanic adults are living below the federal poverty line. 
• Approximately 28% of local Hispanic/Latino adults live in households that fall between 101% and 200% of the federal poverty line (more than 26,930 people). In contrast, only 13% of non-Hispanic adults fall into this category. 
• In sum, approximately 70% of Hispanic/Latino adults in the Coachella Valley are living in households at or below 200% of the federal poverty line (more than 66,880 people). 

Children (0 to 17)

• Approximately 41% of Hispanic/Latino children are living below the federal poverty line (more than 23,250 kids). Only 15% of non-Hispanic children are living below the poverty line. 
• Approximately 32% of Hispanic/Latino children are living in households that fall between 101% and 200% of the federal poverty line (more than 18,460 kids). Only 14% of non-Hispanic children fall into this category. 
• In sum, approximately 73% of Hispanic/Latino children in the Coachella Valley are living in households at or below 200% of the federal poverty line (more than 41,710 children).

Adult Employment Status

Employment Status of Hispanic/Latino Adults in Coachella Valley

Working Hispanic Adults Living in Poverty

There are more than 20,100 Hispanic/Latino adults in the Coachella Valley who are employed or self-employed and yet who are still living below the poverty line. This means that half of all Hispanic/Latino adults (50%) who are living in poverty are employed. 

There are another 17,200 Hispanic/Latino adults in the Coachella Valley who are employed or self-employed and yet who are still living between 101% and 200% of the poverty line. This means that 64% of this near-poverty group are employed. 

Thus, overall, there are more than 37,300 Hispanic/Latino adults in the Coachella Valley who are employed or self-employed and who are living at or below 200% of the poverty line. That means more than half of these low-income adults (56%) are working. 

Adult Employment Status

Employment Status of Hispanic/Latino Adults in Coachella Valley

Working Hispanic Adults Living in Poverty

There are more than 20,100 Hispanic/Latino adults in the Coachella Valley who are employed or self-employed and yet who are still living below the poverty line. This means that half of all Hispanic/Latino adults (50%) who are living in poverty are employed. 

There are another 17,200 Hispanic/Latino adults in the Coachella Valley who are employed or self-employed and yet who are still living between 101% and 200% of the poverty line. This means that 64% of this near-poverty group are employed. 

Thus, overall, there are more than 37,300 Hispanic/Latino adults in the Coachella Valley who are employed or self-employed and who are living at or below 200% of the poverty line. That means more than half of these low-income adults (56%) are working. 

Employment: Full-Time vs. Part-Time

Those who stated that they were employed for wages or self-employed were then asked to specify what their employment looked like. 

Type of Employment for Hispanic/Latino Adults in Coachella Valley

Of the estimated 20,100 Hispanic/Latino adults in the Coachella Valley who are employed or self-employed and yet who are still living below the poverty line…

• 51%, or 10,230 people, are working full-time
• 41%, or 8,205 people, are working part-time
• 1,710 said “other”

Of the estimated 17,200 Hispanic/Latino adults in the Coachella Valley who are employed or self-employed and yet who are still living between 101% and 200% of the poverty line…

• 81%, or 13,885 people, are working full-time
• 17%, or 2,980 people, are working part-time
• 340 said “other”

So in total, of the estimated 37,300 Hispanic/Latino adults in the Coachella Valley who are employed or self-employed and who are living at or below 200% of the poverty line…

• 65%, or 24,115 people, are working full-time
• 30%, or 11,185 people, are working part-time

About Information

All of this data comes from HARC’s 2016 Coachella Valley Community Health Survey. This is the most recent data available; there will be new data coming out in 2020 from our 2019 survey. This page provides some detail on the methods, in case you need it. The next pages provide local data on Hispanic/Latinos in poverty, their work status, and whether they work part-time or full-time. 

Methods

This data was conducted via a random-digit-dial telephone survey in 2016. The survey instruments were modeled after the well-respected Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) and adapted to meet the needs of local community stakeholders.  

HARC contracted with the Kent State University Survey Research Lab to conduct the 2016 survey. Data were collected by telephone survey with randomly selected adults, or randomly selected children by proxy interview with an adult determined to be the most knowledgeable about the selected child. Surveys were restricted to private residences (such as apartments, houses, or mobile homes) within the geographic area of Coachella Valley with landlines and/or cell phones. As such, this survey does not include people who are homeless, those who live in group home settings (such as nursing homes, group homes, etc.), or those who do not have a landline or a cell phone (which is an estimated 3% of the population, according to the National Health Interview Survey’s 2016 figures).  

Data collection began in February and concluded in October. Data collection included 2,532 fully completed surveys: 2,022 in the adult sample and 510 in the child sample. Results show that nearly 60% of the 2016 completed surveys were conducted on a cell phone. Approximately 21% of the completed surveys were done in Spanish. 

Once data collection was complete, statisticians weighted the sample data to most accurately represent the entire population living in the Coachella Valley. The post-stratification weighting used the CDC ranking protocol (CDC 2011). The data was weighted based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey’s five-year estimates (2009 to 2014) for the incorporated cities and unincorporated census-designated places in the Coachella Valley. The weights were raked to age, sex, race, and ethnicity. Weighting the data is essential to ensure that the 2,532 survey respondents represent the 400,000+ people living in the Coachella Valley. As such, the weighted percent and population estimates presented in the report represent estimates that are weighted from the 2,500+ respondents to the 400,000+ residents of the region.

Chart Summary

Federal Poverty Guidelines

Employment Full-Time vs Part-Time

Adult Employment Status

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