(Updated at 5:40 p.m.) Low-income households accounted for a smaller portion of Capitol Hill in 2013 than they did a decade earlier.
New data from the D.C. Office of Revenue Analysis shows how the economic makeup of the District shifted from 2002 to 2013, according to income tax filings.
Sixteen percent of tax-paying households in the 20003 ZIP code were classified as low-income in 2013 — down from 24 percent of households in 2002, according to data from the city.
The data takes into account households of at least two people with income under $40,000 annually, and childless, single-tax fliers who made less than $20,000 annually. The amounts used are 2014 dollars.
In general, the percentage of low-income households climbed in neighborhoods in the outer reaches of the District and dropped closer to downtown.
A full third of tax-paying households in 20002 — which covers the northern portion of Capitol Hill, part of Hill East, the H St NE corridor and NoMa — were classified as having low incomes in 2013, the data shows. That share of the population was 11 percent lower in 2013 than it was in 2002. And a quarter of tax-payers in the 20024 ZIP code were classified as low-income in 2013, which is down 2 percent from 2002.
Ward 6 ZIP codes saw increases in the estimated number of low-income singles from 2002 to 2013, but decreases in the number of low-income families, the ORA data shows. This likely accounts for “students and recent college graduates who have high earning potential but currently don’t make much money,” the District, Measured data blog writer guessed.
The numbers exclude people who filed taxes as married but on separate returns, which accounts for about 3 percent of all local income tax filers.
Image via D.C. Office of Revenue Analysis
Correction: We fixed a math error in the initial version of this story.
A third of children in Southwest are estimated to live in poverty.
Interactive maps released today by the nonprofit D.C. Action for Children show estimated poverty rates and math and reading proficiency rates for children in neighborhoods across the District.
About 20 percent of children under age 17 in the neighborhood designated as Capitol Hill/Lincoln Park live below the federal poverty line, according to the map made using 2009-2013 Census Bureau data. An estimated 16 percent of youth in the Union Station/Stanton Park/Kingman Park area live in poverty. The youth poverty rate in Near Southeast/Navy Yard was estimated at 8 percent.
The maps also show two “neighborhood child success indicators” — the percentage of students who scored as proficient or above in reading and in math, tabulated according to the neighborhood where they live.
Data provided by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education shows that Southwest had the lowest indicators in Ward 6 for the 2012-2013 school year, with 48 percent of students scoring as proficient in math and 42 percent in reading. Half of students in the Near Southeast area scored as proficient in math, and 36 percent did in reading.
Fifty-four percent of students in the Union Station area scored as proficient or higher in math, and 50 percent did in reading. And the Capitol Hill area scored highest, with 54 percent scoring proficient or better in math, and 59 percent in reading.
The full data visualizations are available on the D.C. Action for Children website.
Image via D.C. Action for Children
After seeing too many shivering children, staff at Rosedale Neighborhood Library are collecting coats and other cold-weather gear.
The library will kick off its first-ever winter clothing drive on Saturday to help needy kids at the nearby D.C. General homeless shelter and elsewhere.
Branch Manager Eboni Henry said she and her staff were inspired to act after they saw children wearing light jackets last winter after temperatures dropped below freezing.
Employees of the 1701 Gales St. NE library, which opened two years ago, hold reading programs at D.C. General several times a month.
The library will collect new or lightly used coats, hats, scarves and gloves through Nov. 20. Drop-offs can be made anytime during the library’s business hours. A tax receipt will be provided.