Suburban Twin Cities Poverty Increasing

ST. PAUL (AP) - A new report shows poverty in the Twin Cities suburbs is growing faster than many other metropolitan areas in the nation.

A study by the Brookings Institution released Monday ranks the Twin Cities suburbs among the top 10 metro areas for the speed at which poverty is rising. The analysis shows the number of suburban Minnesotans living in poverty has more than doubled between 2000 and 2011.

Researchers studied census and other data from nearly 100 metropolitan areas for its report. Population growth is cited as one factor. As the number of people living in the suburbs grows, so has the poverty rate.

The poverty rate in the Twin Cities suburbs is less than 8 percent - a fraction of the rate in Minneapolis and St. Paul.