Athens County is associated as an outlier when it comes to the poverty rate, yet many would have no idea considering its high rate of government jobs.
Athens County’s percentage of government jobs is 39.2 percent. Franklin County, where the state capital is located, is only at 16.7 percent. Washington County, a neighbor with a similar population, is at 12.4 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Ohio University, the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail, local school districts and government offices provide some of the positions that contribute to the county’s high percentage of government jobs, said Nick Claussen, Athens County Jobs and Family Services community relations coordinator.
“The government jobs are definitely a huge part of the economy here,” Claussen said. “A lot of those jobs have good pay and benefits. Without them, we would be much worse off, and we hope that we can bring more of them here.”
Claussen noted that many of those jobs, however, have been cut back during recent years.
“Some have disappeared, some have been laid off and some of those jobs have been moved to other parts of the state,” Claussen said. “Just overall, we need more good-paying jobs like that. And there is definitely a shortage of them. That definitely contributes to the poverty rate.”
The average annual wage of a private-sector job in Athens County is $28,234, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compare that to Franklin County, where the average salary is $46,210, and Washington County, where it’s $37,317.
“With Athens County, we have the highest percentage of service jobs in the state for a single county,” Claussen said. “Those jobs are just lower pay with no benefits or few benefits. We have the fewest number of factory jobs in the state, and those jobs typically have higher pay and more benefits, too.”
Mayor Paul Wiehl said OU and local school districts are the reason for such odd proportions.
“We have a large university in Athens that consists of around 3,000 or 4,000 jobs, so that takes out a large chunk of the employment,” Wiehl said. “There’s really not a lot of major industry in Athens. A lot of the employment and employees work in education.”
Wiehl also said students fall into the poverty range according to the U.S. Census, since they are above the age of 18. This throws off the poverty rate slightly.
“Since the census that cites your income isn’t your parents’, it may seem like there is more poverty than there actually is,” Wiehl said. “You have to remember, though, that we’re still in Appalachia.”
Claussen, however, is not so sure that all students are factored into the equation.
“I know for the poverty rate, students that live on campus are not, but students that live off campus are,” Claussen said. “Employment rate is broken up by age, but I don’t know if they would be included as full-time students.”
Claussen added that many people who hold government jobs in Athens commute from other counties, such as Meigs. Also, the county’s unemployment rate is lower than many of the surrounding counties.
“This shows that people here are working low-income jobs,” Claussen said. “People want to work and are doing what they can to survive, but the poverty rate is still so high because people are working low-pay jobs.”
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