By KATHARINE WEBSTER, The Associated Press
Published: Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005

CONCORD – New Hampshire had the highest median household income and the lowest average poverty rate in the nation from 2002 through 2004, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Anita Josten, a research analyst at the state Department of Employment Security, said one reason for the state’s good numbers is that New Hampshire has a high proportion of two-income families.

“We don’t have the ratio of single-parent families that other states have,” she said.

The median household income averaged over three years was $57,352 in New Hampshire, compared to the national average of $44,473 and the low in West Virginia of $32,589, the report found.

Four other states had high household incomes that were not “statistically different” from New Hampshire’s: New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut and Minnesota.

The percentage of New Hampshire residents living in poverty was 5.7, compared to the national average of 12.4 percent and the high in Mississippi of 17.7 percent.

Minnesota also had a very low poverty rate that was not statistically different from New Hampshire’s and the lowest percentage of residents lacking health insurance, at 8.5 percent.

In New Hampshire, 10.6 percent of residents lacked health insurance, but that was still lower than the national average of 15.5 percent and a high of 25.1 percent in Texas.

New Hampshire was among eight states that saw an increase in the number of uninsured people.

The estimates on poverty, uninsured and income are based on supplements to the bureau’s Current Population Survey and are conducted over three months, beginning in February, at about 100,000 households nationwide. Initial interviews are in person, while follow-ups are by telephone.

More detailed state data from the bureau’s American Community Survey found that New Hampshire also had the lowest percentage of children living in poverty. However, the state ranked right in the middle for the number of people over 65 living below the poverty level, tying for No. 26 with Hawaii.

Josten said most seniors are on a fixed income, while the cost of living is already fairly high in New Hampshire and keeps rising.

She also noted that the state’s lack of a broad-based income or sales tax means it has fewer assistance programs for low-income seniors.