[nmnita]

Originally Posted by thewizard16

Poverty is scattered around the state but it is most prevalent in the rural areas. As far as "relative to the national average", I don't really worry about that since the national average includes places with NYC where $60,000 a year won't get you a halfway decent place to live. The population distribution in this country has a lot of people in those expensive urban areas where it takes a high 5 to low 6 figure family income just to feel middle class, which isn't the case in most of the midwest and south. So yes, salaries will be lower than the national average in most places, and there's a reason for that.

I believe Maumelle, at around $71,000 a year, is the highest overall average family income in the state. But remember you have to take average incomes with a grain of salt. Sure, there are neighborhoods in Little Rock or NWA where the average household income is mid six figures and there are neighborhoods where it's probably below $30,000, but the quality of life that money provides here is more important that how much the actual dollar amount is- a simple fact that seems to escape and shock people when they look at relocating here from a very expensive area.

A $50,000 income in Arkansas, even in Little Rock or NWA, allows you to live far better than a $50,000 income in most areas near cities in California, New York, Florida, pretty much anything in the Northeast really, and Chicago, to name a few. You can't complain about a lower than average per-capita income when you also have a lower than average cost of living, because it balances out to a degree. Per capita incomes in NWA and Little Rock aren't as high as some other areas of that size around the country, but it's much cheaper to live there, so people keep moving there and taking jobs at those salaries. That's how the job marketplace works.

You are saying just about what I was saying only doing a better job of it.

Nita

[Cotton1953]

We may be poor....but California is the one right now about to go bankrupt.......
Arkansas is in pretty good financial condition considering the condition of the USA right now.

Originally Posted by hotair2

Certainly no monopoly on poor, uneducated people; however, Arkansas is one of the poorest states in the country. Per Capita salaries are some of the lowest. SO there is some truth to that stereotype.

[bluenoter]

Arkansas has more possums and armadillos for good stew eatin.

Originally Posted by Cotton1953

We may be poor....but California is the one right now about to go bankrupt.......
Arkansas is in pretty good financial condition considering the condition of the USA right now.

[Cotton1953]

Roadkill probably alot easier to get than live specimens.
I see them all the time.

Originally Posted by bluenoter

Arkansas has more possums and armadillos for good stew eatin.

[RogMar]

Originally Posted by Cotton1953

Roadkill probably alot easier to get than live specimens.
I see them all the time.

No....

The buzzards get to roadkill pretty fast, unless you're the one that dealt the terminating bumper.

Out here we've got a neat thing that has been handed down from generation to generation, and not bred out of the genes as found in more......uh......'civlized' areas...

It's called "hunting".

Not for everyone, it involves (children.......please leave the room at this point) 'guns'.

Well, sometimes bows and arrows.

Armadillos, however, we don't eat as a rule, but for practical reasons, every single one is a target of opportunity, and armadillo popping is a daily, if not hourly, pursuit in the counrty.

[wconell]

Been trying all morning.
How do you stereo type...?....two keyboards?

[hotair2]

Originally Posted by wconell

Been trying all morning.
How do you stereo type...?....two keyboards?

Use both hands.

[outofarkansas]

Part of the problem is geographical elitism: Arkansas is a poor state and is, in the eyes of people on the coasts, poorly located. I lived in Arkansas for 10 years. There were many great things about the state. Little Rock is one of the more beautiful American cities...that drive headed South over the Arkansas River? Amazing. But Arkansas also has a problem of not being accepting of newcomers or outsiders, and this adds to the problem. I found that it was much more difficult to gain traction in my profession within the State of Arkansas than elsewhere. Being from elsewhere was a big disadvantage. There's a severe crony system in Arkansas that pervades many of the industries and professional fields there. As a result, people from other parts of the US, like me, end up looking around and concluding: Why stay? I left. So, while much of the stereotyping is unfair, Arkansas has some work to do, too.