Twenty-five percent of New England residents lived in low- and moderate-income (LMI) areas in 2005-2009. In five New England counties (Piscataquis County, Maine; Providence County, Rhode Island; Hampden County, Massachusetts; Grand Isle County, Vermont; and Suffolk County, Massachusetts) more than 40 percent of population lived in LMI areas. Low- and moderate-income and middle- and upper-income (MUI) neighborhoods have very different socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. For instance, in New England, the percentage of people 25 years and older with a bachelor's degree or higher was on average twice as high in MUI neighborhoods (39 percent) as in LMI neighborhoods (20 percent).

Note: LMI areas are defined as census tracts that have median family income below 80 percent of the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) median family income. For census tracts that are not located in an MSA, the median family income for the tract is compared with the state's non- MSA median family income.