Connection: Average Incomes Increase

The unemployment rate, median household income and the average poverty rate have improved in recent years among the three tribes that offer gambling near Spokane. However, their modest progress highlights how desperate the situation is on Washington and Idaho’s reservations.

Unemployment on the Colville reservation dropped from 53 percent to 44.7 percent from 1991 to 1997; on the Spokane reservation it dropped from 71.12 percent to 64.35 percent; and on the Coeur d’Alene reservation it dropped from 76.11 percent to 66.96 percent.

Median household income in those counties with reservations where gambling occurs has risen. The Colville Reservation stretches across Ferry and Okanogan counties. In Ferry County, the household income rose 16.77 percent, from $25,170 to $29,391, from 1989 to 1995. In Okanogan county, it rose 28.42 percent, from $20,303 to $26,074.

In Stevens County, home of the Spokane Reservation, household income rose 28.13 percent, from $24,440 to $31,314.

In Kootenai County, where the Coeur d’Alene Tribe runs its casino, median household income rose 42.29 percent, from $25,593 to $36,417.

The average poverty rate in counties that comprise these three reservations has declined from 1989 to 1995, but only slightly. In Ferry County, the poverty rate declined from 23.7 percent to 18.1 percent. In Okanogan County, it declined from 21.5 percent to 19.7. In Stevens County, it declined from 17.2 percent to 15.4. In Kootenai County, it declined from 12.1 percent to 11.