Here’s how poverty levels in Philadelphia have shifted since 1970

Philadelphia’s latest poverty rate is at an embarrassingly high 25.8 percent.

That’s according to a new report from Center City District and the Central Philadelphia Development Corporation (CPDC). It’s lower than previous rates, which have been as high as 26.3 percent, but it’s still the highest of all big cities in the nation. And in some neighborhoods, the rate is as high as 45 percent.

How did that happen?

The authors of the report blame it on a poor public education system and an “antiquated tax structure, forged in an era when industries rarely moved and workers had limited choice.”

And the city’s poor job growth rate — 1.1 percent — isn’t helping. Check out these two maps from the report below.

The map next shows how, even though the poverty level has dropped since 2010, the number of Philadelphians living below the poverty line has increased or remained the same. The number of Philadelphians living above the poverty line has slightly increased from 2010 to 2015 — although it’s dropped significantly since 1970.

Check out Curbed‘s coverage of “Philadelphia: An Incomplete Revival” here.