Colorado’s poverty rate is below the national average and its median income is higher, but the percentage of people without health insurance tops the U.S. average, according to new estimates from the Census Bureau.
Tough limits on who can receive insurance from the state and fewer employers who sponsor health coverage may explain why 16.6 percent of the population is uninsured, said Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute analyst Adela Flores-Brennan.
Nationwide, an estimated 15.8 percent of Americans didn’t have health insurance last year.
The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey estimates the Colorado poverty rate at 12 percent in 2006, compared with 9.3 percent in the 2000 census.
A family of two adults and two children would be considered at the poverty level if their household income was $20,444 or less in 2006.
Census estimates show Douglas County had one of the highest median incomes ($92,125) and lowest poverty rates (1.9 percent) in the nation for counties with at least 250,000 people.
Median income for Colorado was $52,015 last year, below the estimated median income of $57,118 in 1999, before the recession.
The Census Bureau said the national median income was $48,200.
