Economic Issues

Secondary Data

According to the 2000 Census, the median Weld household income was $42,321 and the median family income was $49,569. Male full-time year-round and female full-time year-around median incomes were $35,037 and $25,757, respectively.

As shown in Table 4, 1999 Weld per capita income, median household income and median family income was lower than the Colorado and Larimer County incomes, but Weld had a higher median household and family income compared to national income levels. 8

Table 4. National, State and County Income in 1999
Personal and Household Income1
National
Colorado
Weld County
Larimer County

Per-Capita Income

$25,288

$24,049

$18,957

$23,689

Median household Income

$38,005

$47,203

$42,321

$48,655

Median Family Income

$44,568

$55,883

$49,569

$58,866

1 A family consists of two or more people, one of whom is the householder, related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing in the same housing unit. A household consists of all people who occupy a housing unit regardless of relationship. A household may consist of a person living alone or multiple unrelated individuals or families living together.

Table 5 presents occupational and wage data for Weld County in 2003. Occupations with the highest number of employees and its corresponding median annual wage in 2003 were office and administrative support (12,280; $27,780), production (7,620; $26,780), sales and related occupations (6,590; $28,250), transportation and materials (6,520; $26,220), construction and extraction (5,570; $35,510), and food preparation and serving (5,390; $17,220). 9 The net job growth during 1990-1995 was 11,193 and for the period between 1995 – 2000 the net job growth was 6,906.10

As shown in Figure 13, Weld is among the counties in state with the highest unemployment rate, as it ranks 13th out of 64 counties in Colorado.11 The Weld unemployment rate has fluctuated over the last 10 years (see Figures 14-16). 12 The unemployment rate has ranged from a low of 3.4% in 2000 to a high of 6.7% in 2003. As of November 2004, the unemployment rate was 5.9%.

Figure 13. Unemployment Rates by County, Not Seasonally Adjusted, November 2004

Figure 13.

Table 5. Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates for Greeley, CO PMSA, November 200313
Occupation Title
Employment
Median Hourly
Mean Hourly
Mean Annual

All Occupations

70,440

$13.22

$16.30

$33,900

Management Occupations

3,230

$32.55

$36.68

$76,300

Business and Financial Operations Occupations

2,190

$23.58

$25.58

$53,210

Computer and Mathematical Science Occupations

950

$26.12

$26.87

$55,900

Architecture and Engineering Occupations

1,110

$27.81

$32.41

$67,410

Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations

420

$20.97

$22.51

$46,810

Community and Social Services Occupations

850

$15.64

$16.67

$34,680

Legal Occupations

220

$20.96

$28.44

$59,150

Education, Training, and Library Occupations

4,790

$18.31

$19.77

$41,120

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations

570

$12.00

$13.77

$28,640

Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Occupations

2,570

$23.48

$28.27

$58,810

Healthcare Support Occupations

1,670

$11.76

$12.97

$26,970

Protective Service Occupations

1,180

$15.96

$16.60

$34,530

Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations

5,390

$7.65

$8.28

$17,220

Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations

1,870

$9.16

$9.92

$20,640

Personal Care and Service Occupations

1,430

$9.17

$10.47

$21,780

Sales and Related Occupations

6,590

$10.29

$13.58

$28,250

Office and Administrative Support Occupations

12,280

$12.29

$13.36

$27,780

Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations

480

$8.99

$11.03

$22,950

Construction and Extraction Occupations

5,570

$15.42

$17.07

$35,510

Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations

2,940

$17.15

$17.82

$37,060

Production Occupations

7,620

$11.63

$12.87

$26,780

Transportation and Material Moving Occupations

6,520

$11.91

$12.61

$26,220
Figure 14. Number of Weld County Residents Employed from 1994 - 20041

Figure 14.

Figure 15. Number of Weld County Residents Unemployed from 1994 - 2004

Figure 15.

Figure 16. Unemployment Rate in Weld County from 1994 - 2004

Figure 16.

1 Employed Persons are persons 16 years and over in the civilian noninstitutional population who, (a) did any work at all (at least 1 hour) as paid employees, and (b) all those who were not working but who had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent; Unemployed persons are persons 16 years and over who had no employment and were available for work; Unemployment rate represents the number unemployed as a percent of the labor force.

Unemployment rates are highest in Greeley and surrounding areas as well as in the Fort Lupton area (see Figure 17).14

Figure 17. Percent of Civilian Labor Force that is Unemployed by Geographical Location

Figure 17.

In addition to wage and income data, other county economic indicators include poverty levels, food stamp use and food insecurity, and government assistance programs. With regard to poverty, approximately 8% of Weld families, 12.5% of individuals, 8.5% of individuals aged 65 and over, and 14.6% of children 18 and under live below the poverty level. The number of applications for the Low Energy Assistance Program in Weld County in 2004-2005 totaled 3,082.15 In addition, the number of individuals in Weld County who receive Supplemental Security Income in 2003 was 2,402, up from 2,272 in 2000.16

The number of food stamp participants increased from 5,207 in 2000 to 6,561 in 2002.17 Locally, the Weld Food Bank distributed 4.78 million pounds of food in 2003, including 13,848 boxes of food, 57,250 packages to children, mothers and elderly adults, 2,917 mini food boxes to elderly or disabled adults, and approximately 3,232 meals served by Kid’s Café.18 The latest survey (2001) of Food Bank clients indicated that 52.1% reported having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities, 39.4% had to choose between paying for food and paying for medical care, and 38.7% between paying for food and rent or mortgage.19

Community Economic Issues - Survey Results

Respondents were asked to indicate whether unemployment or underemployment, poverty and lack of jobs were not an issue, a minor issue, a moderate issue or a major issue in their community. The extent to which economic issues are of concern to key informants and household respondents appear in Table 6 and Figure 18.

Table 6. Percent of Key Informants and Household Respondents (HH) Indicating That Community Economic Concerns Are a Minor, Moderate, or Major Issuea
Economic Issues
Minor Issue
Moderate Issue
Major Issue
Don’t know
Key Informant %
HH %
Key Informant %
HH %
Key Informant %
HH %
Key Informant %
HH %

Unemployment or underemployment

22.6

19.7

33.9

22.1

40.3

22.2

1.6

12.4

Poverty

22.6

21.0

27.4

21.3

46.8

14.9

1.6

9.7

Lack of jobs

21.0

20.3

43.5

18.1

33.9

26.6

1.6

12.1
a Throughout this report, the percent of respondents who reported concerns were ‘’not an issue” were excluded from the charts and tables. The complete set of frequencies can be found in the Appendix.

Clearly key informants felt more strongly that unemployment or underemployment, poverty, and lack of jobs a more serious community issue than did the household respondents. Almost 75% of key informants thought these economic issues were either a major or moderate community concern compared to 35% to 44% of household respondents. However, 26.6% and 22.2% of household respondents reported that unemployment or underemployment and lack of jobs were major community issues.

Respondents commented about other economic issues in their community:

Figure 18. Percent of Key Informants (KI) and Household (HH) Respondents Reporting Economic Concerns as a Minor, Moderate or Major Issue1

Figure 18.

1 Throughout this report, the percent of respondents who reported concerns were ‘’not an issue” were excluded from the charts and tables. The complete set of frequencies can be found in the Appendix.

Additional analyses were conducted to determine if perceptions of concern about economic issues varied by geographic location, income, neighborhood, or race. Only statistically significant differences (p<.05) are reported.

Greeley residents living east of 35th Avenue were more likely to report that poverty in their community was either a moderate or major issue compared to those Greeley residents living west of 35th Avenue.

Household Economic Issues - Survey Results

Respondents were asked to indicate if they or anyone in their household had inadequate wages, did not have enough money to buy household items (e.g., clothing, household goods), found it difficult to pay bills for basic needs (e.g., utilities, food), not being able to find work, and had inadequate transportation were not an issue, a minor issue, a moderate issue or major issue. Results are presented in Table 7 and Figure 19.

Table 7. Number and Percent of Respondents Reporting that Selected Economic Concerns were a Minor, Moderate or Major Issue
Economic Issues
Minor Issue
Moderate Issue
Major Issue
n
%
n
%
n
%

Inadequate wages

74

20.2

73

20.2

83

24.0

Not having enough money to buy household items (clothing, household goods, etc.)

82

22.4

61

16.9

56

16.7

Finding it difficult to pay bills for basic needs (utilities, food)

71

19.5

61

17.0

60

17.8

Not being able to find work

47

12.9

50

13.7

67

19.7

Inadequate household transportation

61

16.8

37

11.1

24

6.8

Inadequate wages was the economic issue of greatest concern listed by respondents. For 24% of the respondents, inadequate wages was a major issue. In addition, 44% of respondents indicated that inadequate wages, 34.8% difficultly to pay bills for basic needs, and 33.4% being able to find work were either a moderate or a major issue.

A prevalent theme of all focus group discussions was the lack of job opportunities. Participants described difficulty with finding a job. All the focus groups, rural and urban, expressed concern about the lack of employment opportunities.

For those with jobs, they expressed concern with a trend in the work place to reduce the number of hours individual employees work. While this policy maintained the number of workers on the job, the reduction of hours worked reduced family incomes thus perpetuating other family issues.

Two key findings related to unemployment were 1) documentation, and 2) language.

The majority of the focus group participants have incomes below the federal poverty guidelines. Federal poverty guidelines, based on family size and income, are primarily used to ascertain program eligibility and do not correspond to an adequate standard of living for families. Focus group participants expressed a concern with poverty.

Food insecurity and hunger emerged as a significant issue. Maintaining food security among these families is difficult due to job uncertainty, price increases, reduction in purchasing power and other financial demands. All focus groups acknowledged many families in their community don’t have adequate food and families in Weld County experience hunger.

A single mother of four children under the age of 6 stated:

Others noted:

A father in a rural community related that even though there are services for food in the community, these food resources limit the number of times a month a family can get food. As a result of this policy, many families did not have enough food to feed all members of the family. Frequently, community food resources target the very young and old. He expressed concern that the adults in the family who needed to work were the last ones to eat.

Figure 19. Percent of Households Reporting Economic Concerns as a Minor, Moderate or Major Issue

Figure 18.

Household Economic Issues by Subgroups

There were differences in economic issues by different subgroups of respondents. Within the Greeley area, those respondents living east of 35th Avenue were more likely that those living in west Greeley to report that inadequate wages were a major issue (40.9% vs. 14.0%), that they did not have enough money to buy households items (23.3% vs. 9.3%), and found it difficult to pay bills for basic needs (33.3% vs. 9.3%).

Further analyses also indicated that inadequate wages was a more severe problem for lower income compared to higher income individuals. Some 53.8% of individuals with less than a high school degree reported that inadequate wages was a major problem. Respondents with other educational levels also reported that inadequate wages were a moderate or major problem. Fifty-three percent of respondents with some college, 51% of respondents with an associates degree, and 48.4% of high school graduates reported that inadequate wages were a moderate or major problem. Approximately one-third of respondents with a bachelor’s or graduate degree reported that inadequate wages were a moderate or major problem.

Not having enough money to buy household items and paying bills for basic items, such as utilities and food, was significantly more of an issue for respondents with lower education levels (see Figures 20, 21, and 22.). More than 40% of respondents with an education level of some college or less reported that having enough money to buy household items or paying bills for basic items was a moderate or major problem compared to those with higher education levels. Those with less than a high school education had the most difficulty with over 65% reporting having moderate or major economic problems. Not being able to find work and inadequate household transportation was a moderate or major problem for 76% and 61.6%, respectively, for respondents with less than high school education.

Figure 20. Percent of Household Respondents Reporting Inadequate Wages as a Moderate or Major Issue by Education Level

Figure 20.

Figure 21. Percent of Household Respondents Reporting Difficulty Paying for Basic Needs as a Moderate or Major Issue by Education Level

Figure 21.

Figure 22. Percent of Household Respondents Reporting Not Being Able to Find Work as a Moderate or Major Issue by Education Level

Figure 22.

Non-whites1 were two times more likely than whites to report that the following were major issues for themselves or someone in their household - inadequate wages (38.3% vs. 18.5%), not having enough money to buy household items (51.9% vs. 26.7%), finding it difficult to pay bills for basic needs (53.8% vs. 28.2%), not being able to find work (35.8% vs. 13.0%), and inadequate transportation (17.3% vs. 3.3%).

1 Throughout this report non-whites were respondents who indicated they were either American Indian, Asian or Pacific Islander, or Hispanic and were grouped together for additional analyses (n=88).

There were also differences in household economic issues by age (see Figure 23). The youngest age groups, those less than 35 years of age were more likely than their older aged counterparts to report that inadequate wages, not having enough money to buy household items, and finding it difficult to pay bills were moderate or major problems. Those reporting that inadequate wages were either a moderate or major issue were those aged 35-54 (45.8%), aged 55-64 (37.7%) and those aged 75+ (33.3%). Not having enough money to buy household items was a moderate or major problem for approximately one-third of all age groups with the exception of those aged 55-64 (20%).

Figure 23. Percent of Household Respondents Reporting Difficulty Paying for Basic Needs as a Moderate or Major Issue by Age Group

Figure 23.