Virginia
State Government
Governor
Glenn Youngkin (R)
State Senate
21
Democrats,
19
Republicans
State House
49
Democrats,
51
Republicans
Virginia
Economic well-being - Virginia
Extreme poverty rate
0.06
Food insecurity
0.121
Minimum wage
12.4
Percent of working families under 200% of the poverty line
0.241
Poverty rate
9.7%
Unemployment rate
3.6
Number of Black or African American children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment
Number of Hispanic or Latino children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment
Percent of individuals who are uninsured
6.9
Poverty by demographic - Virginia
Child poverty rate
0.12
Number of Asian and Pacific Islander children below 200% poverty
18000
Number of Black or African American children below 200% poverty
164000
Number of Hispanic or Latino children below 200% poverty
121000
Senior poverty rate
9.5 %
Women in poverty
4,360,482
June 4, 2016
The Washington Post, June 4, 2016: Commonwealth Institute says Virginia is short-changing its poor students
March 29, 2016
The Washington Post, March 29, 2016: Board set to vote on plan to create high-poverty schools
March 20, 2016
The Washington Post, March 20, 2016: Separate but equal? Wealthy county’s plan would concentrate low-income, Hispanic students
March 1, 2016
American University Radio, March 1, 2016: Rising Poverty Rates, Tight Budgets Put The Pinch On Virginia Schools
February 15, 2016
Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 15, 2016: Getting people out of poverty, into the work force is focus of state budget proposal
April 11, 2015
Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 11, 2015: (Op-Ed) Empower high-achieving, low-income students across Virginia
"There is a profound and widening excellence gap: a measurable difference between lower-income and higher-income students who reach and remain at 'advanced' levels of academic performance. It's not just that rich kids test 'advanced' at a higher rate; the problem is that kids who test 'advanced' and are poor tend to backslide the longer they stay in the public schools, don't graduate at the same rate as other smart kids and don't go on to graduate school in comparable percentages."