Community Corner

Map: Where Do Deerfield's Veterans Live?

The map below shows a snapshot of the percentage of families living below the poverty line and the percentage of veterans across town.

Newscruncher is a daily series that breaks down the characteristics of your town by the numbers. You can see more posts by clicking the Newscruncher link above the headline or by checking out our weekend roundups. If you see any technical issues with this map, or if you'd like to suggest ideas for future Newscruncher articles, please email data@patch.com.

With Veterans Day approaching, Patch is looking at the lives of veterans across town. The map above shows a snapshot of the percentage of families living below the poverty line and the percentage of veterans there.

The relationship between veterans and poverty is complex. Nationally, poverty among veterans is half that compared to the general public. But when vets fall through the cracks, they can fall hard.

Poverty coupled with other factors like a lack of support networks or substandard housing has made it 50 percent more likely for veterans to become homeless than other Americans. There are still 1.5 million young veterans who live with incomes below the poverty line.

In 2011, about 900,000 veterans lived in households that relied on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a government food stamp program. Government cuts to the program will affect about 5,000 troops according to the Pentagon.


The data in this map are from the United States Census Bureau's 2011 American Community Survey. These values are an estimate for 2011 taking into account 60 months of collected data. You can learn more about the survey here.

Using your cursor, you can hover over any census tract – the geographic region defined by the U.S. Census – and see in the box in the upper right hand corner of the map of the percentage of families living below the poverty line and the percentage of veterans in that area. Toggle between civilian veterans and poor families to change the variables of the map.

What do you think explains the differences in where veterans live and the percentage of families below the poverty line across town? Tell us in a comment or a blog post.

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