Poverty Research Project
Project Overview
Part of the Justice Institute at NCCU School of Law, the Poverty Research Project promotes economic security for all North Carolinians in three ways. We produce accessible, nonpartisan research that examines and documents economic hardship, informs public understanding and advances opportunities for shared growth. We also serve as a resource for individuals and community organizations and provide training and mentorship for students at NC Central and elsewhere who are interested in questions of law, policy, and economic justice.
North Carolina Poverty Dashboard
Publications
The Persistence of Neighborhood Disadvantage
The neighborhood you live in can shape your life. Accessible jobs, quality schools, and the presence of amenities like grocery stores, parks and opportunities for young people can enhance residents’ lives. The opposite—crime, public dysfunction, dilapidated housing, pollution and other hazards—make life harder, and often, shorter. These external conditions don’t simply reflect individual poverty, they magnify and compound it.
More than two million North Carolinians, or one in five, live in a neighborhood where at least 20% of their neighbors are impoverished. Among North Carolinians who are themselves poor, two in five live in one of these disadvantaged communities.
This report examines the growth and changing face of concentrated poverty across North Carolina. It also takes a close look at one Durham neighborhood that illustrates both the challenges residents face as well as the mutual aid and support that residents have forged in response.
The Persistence of Neighborhood Disadvantage: High-Poverty Neighborhoods in North Carolina
The Epidemic of Driver’s License Suspension for Non-Traffic Reasons
More than 2.8 million driver’s license suspensions are active in North Carolina, burdening hundreds of thousands of mostly low-income residents. These suspensions are not for dangerous driving, but for unpaid court costs or missed court dates. Most people don’t willfully violate court orders — often poverty makes compliance impossible — and the suspensions that follow can last years.
One suspension often triggers a cascade of new charges, mounting legal debt and deeper legal entanglement. Because driving is so vital to everyday life, a suspension is a debilitating event with harmful repercussions for individuals, families and the state.
This two-part series examines the scope and consequences of suspension. The first report analyzes trends over time and across counties. The second highlights the human and economic toll of suspension through the voices of affected individuals, advocates, and attorneys.
The Epidemic of Driver’s License Suspensions in North Carolina: The Scale of the Problem.
Population Change and Immigration
This report examines the profound demographic shifts that have transformed North Carolina over the past two decades. While metro areas have grown rapidly, many rural communities face population decline and uncertainty about their future. At the same time, the state has also seen sharp increases in residents who identify as Hispanic, Asian or multiracial.
These fast-growing groups have strengthened North Carolina, especially its rural areas.
Population Change, Immigration and the Future of Rural North Carolina
Shredding the Safety Net: North Carolina and the Assault on Poverty Programs
This series examines how cuts to federal safety net programs will deepen poverty and economic hardship in North Carolina.
Population Change, Immigration and the Future of Rural North Carolina
An Overview of Poverty in North Carolina 2025
Food Security and SNAP in North Carolina 2025
Medicaid in North Carolina 2025
Medicaid Funding Cuts Threaten the Financial and Physical Health of North Carolinians 2025
Student Papers on Issues of Poverty and Courts
NCCU students are an important part of our work! The first three papers were written by law students in Professor Scott Holmes‘ Summer 2025 Legal Problems of the Poor class. “Beyond the Fines and Fees,” a report on driver’s license suspension by Sydney Thorne, was research she conducted as a research assistant.
Black Maternal Health by Jean-Baptiste
From Lectures to Litigation by Montilla