poverty
Delaware County has one of the highest rates of poverty and childhood poverty of all 92 counties. Poverty affects neighbors in different pockets of our community in different ways.
As shown on the map, three quarters of the City of Muncie have much more significant dealings with poverty than that of northwest Muncie. In some hyperlocal spots in our city, nearly 4 in 5 children are living in poverty. |
incomeMuncie and Delaware County have not always been challenged by the generational adversities that families and individuals are facing today. In 60 years' time, most households in our community went from having sufficient income to no longer being able to afford basic expenses.
At the core of health, academic, and other significant life outcomes are the deep, nuanced complexities of low-income and poverty. |
single parenthood
There are nearly 3x as many single parents in the city of Muncie than in the rest of Delaware County. Families in Muncie have a diverse representation of householders, from married or unmarried couples, to single moms or dads, to grandparents or other kin.
Each family has unique needs, hopes, and dreams. In order for systems and programs to be built in a way that meets these needs and empowers hopes and dreams, we must know and understand the diversity of our householders. |
health
Delaware County has significant heath challenges, that are a result of other challenges involving poverty, educational attainment, and income.
Compared to the 92 Indiana counties, Delaware County ranks 86th for overall health outcomes, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation health rankings. In Delaware County, there is a 17 year life expectancy gap between the area with the lowest and the area with the highest life expectancy. In Muncie, this gap is nearly 13 years. Our health challenges begin in the earliest years. Depicted on the map to the right, southern Muncie and Delaware County (zip code 47302) is one of the largest perinatal high-risk areas. Our community experiences higher rates of infant mortality, pre-term births, moms smoking while pregnant, and moms on Medicaid than the state average. When disaggregated for race, we see even more concerning information. Delaware County's Black infant mortality rate, for example, is twice that of its white infant mortality rate. |
home ownership & renter mobility
Home ownership is an indicator of familial or generational wealth-building capabilities. Unfortunately, in the city of Muncie, home ownership is relatively low compared to the rest of Delaware County and the state of Indiana.
It is important to note that Census tracts 6, 7, 9.02, and 10 encompass Ball State University and are home to the majority of the community's student housing. This, of course, results in lower home ownership rates for occupants. This is similarly depicted on the second map, where renter mobility is highest in Muncie. This is largely a result of student mobility during their tenure in college. Beyond the aforementioned Census tracts, renter mobility in the rest of Muncie is still much higher than other communities. Renter mobility and transiency pose unique challenges to schools, other program providers, and communications. This results in the need for a unique approach in order to reach all families and ensure that they have sufficient access to resources and services. |