The North Carolina Local Asset Poverty Index provides data on asset poverty by region for the first time.
Asset poverty is defined as the lack of sufficient financial resources to remain above the Federal Poverty Level for
three months without earned income. Assets matter for a family’s economic
stability and intergenerational mobility. Nearly 30 percent of North
Carolina’s children live in asset poor households. Variation in asset poverty
by region can provide information about the need for greater opportunities to
save and build assets in communities across the state.
