Eau Claire: Renters in Poverty By Age Groups
As Eau Claire, WI is a college town, renters tend to stay separated by class and age.  Below are two maps showing this contrast along with a few bullets explaining some of the differences and reasons for them.
  • The Student Rental Area (a.k.a. Student Ghetto) and also the rental area of the Third Ward stand out as the most concentrated areas of renter's poverty for young people. A reason they might be occupied by renters below poverty is because the homes are often in disrepair, haveing been built mostly between 1880 and 1910, making them cheap for landlords to purchase and rent out to students who don't have the money to live elsewhere. The same is probably true for the rentals in the Third Ward (although the owned homes are very nice, many of the rentals are      not). The location of these neighborhoods relative to UWEC is another reason they are likely to be occupied by students who work part time and are below the poverty level. Many of the homes in the Student Rental Area are Upright and Wing or simple Queen Anne style homes, easily converted to house several apartments.

 

  • In the Student Rental Area between Clairemont, Water St, Chippewa River and Madison St. there are 1,672 renter occupied homes. Of those, 728 of the rented homes are rented by people below the poverty level (all ages included). Of those 728 homes rented by people below the poverty level, 95% or 695 homes are rented by people between the ages of 15 and 34.

 

  • The percentage of homes young people rent below the poverty level lessens as one moves away from the center of town with exception of the west side area where there are many apartments with lower rent.  See Median Gross Rent Map for more information.

  • By comparison, the high value areas for people ages 35 to 54 are north of the Student Housing Area, another old part and working class section of the city, and in the suburbs on the south side of Eau Claire. There are very few older people renting below the poverty level in the Student Housing Area (only up to 2.5% of renters), contrasting sharply with Map 1 of 15-34 year old renters.

 

  • It is also clear that older people who rent are probably making more money than younger people who rent. In any given area, the percent of people age 35 to 54 who are renters and below poverty reaches only up to 8% while renters age 15 to 34 may be up to 49% below poverty level.

 
         Source: U.S. 2000 Census. Created by Lindsay M. Olson 08 June 2007.