The U.S. Census Bureau released new statistics from the 2016–2020 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates. Following pandemic-related data collection disruptions, the Census Bureau revised its methodology to reduce nonresponse bias in data collected in 2020. After evaluating the effectiveness of this methodology, the Census Bureau determined the standard, full suite of 2016–2020 ACS 5-year data are fit for public release, government and business uses.

Median Household Income 

• The newly released 2016–2020 ACS 5-year data shows that Pennsylvania’s median household income increased to $63,627 when compared to the 2011–2015 ACS 5-year data adjusted for inflation.
• Between the two nonoverlapping periods, median household income increased in 66 of the state’s 67 counties. The largest increase was in Chester County (+$10,205) and the largest decline in Bradford County (-$1,180).

Poverty

• From 2011–2015 to 2016–2020, the overall poverty rate for Pennsylvania decreased from 13.5% to 12.0%.
• From 2011–2015 to 2016–2020, the poverty rate decreased in 59 of the state’s 67 counties, with the largest decrease in Juniata County (-3.8%). The rate increased in 7 counties, with the largest increase in Cameron County (+5.2%). There was no change in Schuylkill County (remained at 13.1%).

The revised methodology improves the 2020 weighted survey responses by comparing characteristics for responding and nonresponding households using administrative, third-party and decennial census data. The resulting 2020 input data were then integrated with the inputs from 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 (processed using standard ACS methodology) to produce the 5-year data products. To learn more about changes to the methodology, view the methodology user note.

It is important to note, the ACS 5-year estimates are not designed to measure rapid change during short periods because the data come from a 5-year period. Although the most recent estimates contain data that include the economic shock from the COVID-19 pandemic, they also contain data collected in the final years (2016–2019) of the longest expansion in the history of U.S. business cycles. These data only reflect a small part of the impact of the pandemic on social, economic and housing measures.

Data users should use caution when comparing 2016–2020 5-year estimates to earlier ACS data. For more information, visit comparison guidance. To learn more about the ACS 5-year period estimates, read Period Estimates in the American Community Survey.

Changes to Race and Hispanic Origin 

The findings on race and ethnicity from the 2016–2020 ACS were similar to the 2020 Census results.

• The White population remained the largest race or ethnicity group in the state, however this population declined by 2.6% between 2011–2015 and 2016–2020. The American Indian and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander populations also declined during this period.
• The multiracial (the Two or More Races) population increased by 58.8% between 2011–2015 and 2016–2020.
• The Some Other Race population increased 23.6% between 2011–2015 and 2016–2020 while the Asian population increased 14.4% and the Black or African American population increased 1.2% during this period.
• The Hispanic or Latino population, which includes people of any race, increased by 19.2% between 2011–2015 and 2016–2020.

The 2016–2020 ACS 5-year estimates also reflect planned changes made to the design, processing and coding of the race and Hispanic origin questions.

Beginning in 2020, the Census Bureau implemented changes to the Hispanic origin and race questions based on extensive research and outreach over the past decade. The improvements made to the design, processing and coding of the Hispanic origin and race questions are similar to changes made in the 2020 Census.

The differences in the overall racial distributions relative to 2011–2015 ACS data are largely due to improvements in the design of the two separate questions for Hispanic origin and race data collection and processing as well as some demographic changes.

The Census Bureau is also set to release the ACS 5-year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) and the Variance Replicate Estimates (VRE) on March 31, 2022.

A new report on cancer, An Update on Cancer Deaths in the United States, uses the latest cancer death data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s National Center for Health Statistics. In 2020, almost 603,000 people died of cancer in the United States, but cancer death rates have continued to drop. Cancer deaths have dropped 27% over 20 years from 2001 to 2020. In other findings:

• Cancer remained the second leading cause of death, after heart disease in 2020. COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death.
• Lung cancer was the leading cause of cancer death, attributing to 23% of all cancer deaths.
• Cancer death rates differed by cancer type, sex, racial and ethnic group, and residence in an urban or rural county.

Learn More

The Flex Monitoring Team has released a new policy brief, Evaluating State Flex Program Population Health Activities.

The Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program funds initiatives to improve the health of rural communities under Program Area 3: Population Health Improvement. This brief: (a) provides an overview of the expectations for Program Area 3; (b) summarizes State Flex Program (SFP) initiatives under this Program Area; (c) describes promising population health strategies implemented by SFPs; and (d) discusses outcome measurement issues for population health. It also describes a pathway to connect Flex Program population health efforts to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy Rural Hometown Initiative (HRHI), a five-year multi-program effort to address the factors driving rural disparities in heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke.

A companion brief, An Inventory of State Flex Program Population Health Initiatives for Fiscal Years 2019-2023, provides a detailed description of population health initiatives proposed by the 45 SFPs.

A new study by researchers at Yale Cancer Center shows inhibition of the CECR2 gene prevents triple-negative breast cancer from advancing or metastasizing.  The discovery is an early step in finding new therapeutics for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), one of the most difficult disease sub-types to treat. The findings are published online February 4 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

To learn more, go to: New path to treat advanced triple-negative breast cancer — ScienceDaily

(Reprinted from Science Daily, February 4, 2022)

Broadband service improvements are needed across Pennsylvania, but the most significant need is among rural counties, according to a new analysis of broadband speed test data by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.

The Center estimated broadband connectivity in Pennsylvania’s rural and urban counties using data from Measurement Lab (M-Lab), which measured the download and upload speeds of internet users throughout Pennsylvania. M-Lab is a consortium of research, industry, and public-interest partners providing verifiable measurement of global network performance.  The Center’s analysis included data from nearly 3 million upload and download speed tests taken throughout Pennsylvania in calendar year 2021. The data were provided to the Center by a collaboration between Exactly Labs and X-Lab, a non-partisan technology and policy institute at Penn State University.

Using these data, the Center identified areas that continue to lack significant access to broadband internet service. The analysis showed need across Pennsylvania for improved broadband service, but the counties most in need, and most eligible for aid under federal programs, are rural, and are in the Central Susquehanna Valley region (Juniata, Perry, and Snyder counties), por­tions of the Pennsylvania Wilds (Cameron, Clarion, Elk, and Forest counties), and the northeast (Susquehanna and Wyoming counties), as well as Greene County in the southwest and Crawford County in the northwest.

Get the report, Pennsylvania Broadband Access: A Speed Test Analysis.

In this policy brief from the RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis, researchers offer strategies to support the development of systems across health care and community-based organizations to improve access to behavioral health.

Access the brief at Meeting the Behavioral Health Needs of Farm Families in Times of Economic Distress.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are events of abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction occurring between birth and 17 years of age. Studies have found a direct correlation between ACEs and risky behaviors, poor physical health, and poor mental health outcomes in childhood. Positive childhood experiences (PCEs) include a nurturing, safe, and supportive environment allowing for health development and overall wellness. In prior research, rural-urban differences in PCEs have not been examined using all 50 states. This brief examines the types and counts of ACEs and PCEs for rural and urban children. The study also reports on the differences between rural and urban ACEs and PCEs across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Contact Information:

Elizabeth Crouch, PhD
Rural and Minority Health Research Center
Phone: 803.576.6055
crouchel@mailbox.sc.edu

Additional Resources of Interest:

• More information about the Rural and Minority Health Research Center
• More information from the Rural Health Information Hub’s topic guide: Rural Health Disparities

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania researchers Dr. Juliana Svistova, Dr. Ahyoung Lee, Dr. Christopher Harris, Dr. Juyoung Song, Jillian Horton, Barbe Fogarty, Julia Hansen, and Carlie Mills conducted the research, which assessed the demand for mental health services in rural Pennsylvania, with a focus on youth and the elderly.

The research also identified challenges rural populations face in accessing mental health care and identified options for improving and expanding mental health care services for underserved rural Pennsylvanians.

Read the executive summary here.

The full report can be accessed here: Access to Mental Health Services in Rural Pennsylvania