Why Education Matters, Part I

The Common Good Forecaster is a tool that breaks down, by county, the level of education of residents, the median income, and the % of people living below poverty. To check it out for yourself go to www.liveunited.org/forecaster/. The people living in poverty statistic is based on the number of adults over the age of 25 who are below the federal poverty threshold.

Here is what it says about some of the counties in Northwest Michigan.


Leelanau County:
Median Income: $30,297
People living in poverty: 5.1%
Unemployment rate: 5%


Grand Traverse County:
Median Income: $29,477
People living in poverty: 6.7%
Unemployment rate: 5.3%


Antrim County:
Median Income: $25,089
People living in poverty: 10.4%
Unemployment rate: 7.2%

At this time information is not available for Benzie or Kalkaska Counties through this particular forecasting tool.


Now, lets take a look at these numbers again and assume everyone actually graduates from High School:


Leelanau County:
Median Income: $31,177
People living in poverty: 4.4%
Unemployment rate: 5.2%


Grand Traverse County:
Median Income: $30,234
People living in poverty: 5.5%
Unemployment rate: 5.5%


Antrim County:
Median Income: $25,833
People living in poverty: 9.3%
Unemployment rate: 8.3%