September 18th, 2015 by WCBC Radio

According to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 20 percent of West Virginians were living in poverty last year, the ninth highest rate in the nation. The federal government reported Thursday that 328,000 of the state's 1.8 million residents lived below the federal poverty line of $24,250 for a family of four. The report says one quarter of West Virginia's children reside in homes earning about $24,000 annually. The state's median household income was an estimated $41,059 in 2014, about $10,000 less than the nationwide average. The news comes two days after the federal government announced that West Virginia has the nation's highest unemployment rate of 7.6 percent. In August, the federal government announced the state has the lowest civilian workforce participation.