Rochester ranked fifth in city poverty report

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Rochester has ranked fifth in a report on child poverty trends released by the New York State Comptroller.

The report revealed that Rochester was ranked number five on the list of cities with the highest poverty rankings in the U.S. Statistics showed between 40% to 46% of children in Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo were living in poverty in 2022.

Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo were reported to have child poverty rates that were double the average rate of cities similar in population size.

In New York State, children with single female heads of household experience poverty at more than four times the rate of family households with married couples. Rochester saw nearly 50% of single-family homes with female heads of households with children below the poverty line in 2022.

Aqua Porter, the Executive Director of the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative said, “Poverty across New York State remains unconscionably high, especially among our state’s youngest residents,” said Aqua Y. Porter, Executive Director of the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative. Porter continued, “While we have seen some important progress in reducing these rates over the last decade, we know that more critical investments and decisive actions are needed to bring upward mobility to all of our state’s residents.”

For poverty rankings, New York State ranked 41st in the nation in 2022 and that gap has been steadily growing since 2019.

To help address this issue, the State Budget for State Fiscal Year 2024-25 includes measures like a $50 million anti-poverty pilot program using federal funds for families with children living in areas of poverty in Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo.

Out of the $50 million anti-poverty pilot program, $25 million is going toward Rochester, and
the other half is split evenly between Buffalo and Syracuse at around $12.5 million each.

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