D.4 Financial Characteristics

Annual Income

The average household size in the study area is 2.05 people, making families of two the best representation of the average family in the area. In 2015, the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) before tax was set as $23,983 for a family of two. The median and average income for each Census Tract are above the LICO for families of two. However, it is also shown by the graphs that there are many households in all Census Tracts that are earning less than $20,000 per year, indicating that there is a strong presence of low-income residents in the area. Notably, Census Tract 29 has an overwhelmingly high number of households earning lower than $5,000 annually. Nineteen percent of the households in Census Tract 29 have below $5,000 yearly incomes. The strong presence of low-income earners is presumably related to the fact that the University of Windsor is located within the boundary of Census Tract 29, and university students tend to have little to no income. On the other hand, there are some high-income households living in the study area as well, with all but Census Tract 27 having residents reporting household income being over $200,000 and above.

Unemployment Rate

Other than Census Tract 27, each Census Tract in the study area consists of an unemployment rate higher than that of the City as a whole. The unemployment rate of the City of Windsor has been determined to be 7.7%. In comparison, Census Tract 27 has a slightly lower rate of 7.4%. About 24.8% of the population aged 15 years and above living in Census Tract 29 is unemployed, and the unemployment rate for this Census Tract is over three times as high as the entire City’s figure. Census Tract 30 and Census Tract 31’s unemployment rates are 13.7% and 10.9%, respectively.

Work Activity

Sixty-four percent of the study area residents aged 15 years and over worked part-time, which is higher than the entire City’s 49%. Every Census Tract in the study area has a higher proportion of when being compared to the City. Particularly, 76% of the population residing in Census Tract 29 have part-time positions. It is very likely that the uniqueness of Census Tract 29 is again connected to its large student population.