Poverty is rising in parts of suburban Des Moines. Nonprofits are struggling to keep up.

Rapid growth has brought with it an increase in poverty in some Des Moines suburbs.

Mynette Carlson of Waukee said people see "the pretty and the brand new" in that rapidly growing western suburb.

But Carlson — who said she has been in the same townhouse in Waukee for 22 years and lives on a fixed income from Social Security and disability benefits — sees parents with multiple jobs and people living on disability like her who struggle to get by.

People "see growth, but it's not the people in our situation who are able to take advantage of that growth," Carlson said. "You try and try, and it always seems like you're a month behind."

Waukee's population increased a massive 74% from 2010 to 2020, according to the most recent U.S. Census — growing from 13,790 people to 23,940. Dallas County, where Waukee is located, was the fourth-fastest growing county in the U.S. over the same period.

In 2021, more than 1,100 Waukee residents lived below the federal poverty level, or about 4.8%, up from 3.5% in 2017, according to American Community Survey data.

Because of the explosive growth, even if the poverty rate remains the same in Waukee and other developing suburbs, hundreds more people in each city are living in poverty than just a few years ago. And census data shows an uptick in the poverty rates in Pleasant Hill, Waukee, West Des Moines and Urbandale.

Why that's happening is a complicated question. But what's straightforward is that more residents in those cities are struggling to make ends meet, and local organizations dedicated to helping people in need face greater demand.

In September, Carlson stopped by Waukee Area Christian Services, her first visit since July, to get food.

Melissa Stimple, executive director of Waukee Area Christian Services, said she’s seen the number of people living with poverty steadily grow in the 18 years she’s been with the nonprofit, which serves people in all of Dallas County from a space attached to Westview Church in Waukee.

That observation is applicable to other areas of the metro as well, and it's backed up by federal data and an academic researcher.

Poverty is not the same everywhere in the Des Moines metro

In 2022, child poverty in the U.S. more than doubled and median household income dropped as COVID-19 pandemic emergency government benefits expired. At the same time, inflation rose, making gas, groceries and other necessities more expensive.

Also in 2022, the estimated number of households reporting food insecurity jumped sharply

American Community Survey data shows that from 2017 to 2021, the percentage of people living below 100% of the federal poverty level in Pleasant Hill and Urbandale increased by less than 2 percentage points and increased in West Des Moines by less than 3 percentages points — though all those increases and others are within the margin of error.

The poverty rates in 2021 were as follows:

• Pleasant Hill, 6.8%;

• West Des Moines, 8.9%;

• Urbandale, 5.9%.

• In Des Moines, the rate was 13.2%.

That means by 2021, more than 670 people in Pleasant Hill, about 6,100 in West Des Moines, more than 2,600 in Urbandale and about 27,400 in Des Moines lived below the federal poverty level.

In Iowa, for an individual in 2021, the federal poverty level was set at an income of $12,880. For a couple, it was $17,420. And for a family of four it was $26,500.

Those levels are set at the start of each year. In 2023 in Iowa, they were $14,580 for an individual, $19,720 for a couple and $30,000 for a family of four.

Johnston showed the largest increase in poverty in the metro between 2017 and 2021 — 5.5 percentage points, though still within the margin of error. That was more than 2,260 people in 2021.

The United Way of Central Iowa tracks the same federal American Community Survey data but looked at more cities when it shared a snapshot in September with the Des Moines Register.

The snapshot also showed a higher poverty rate for Des Moines of 15.3% and a lower rate for West Des Moines of 6.6% but was in agreement with other suburbs' numbers direct from government data.

The United Way of Central Iowa's data showed similar numbers for Adel, Ankeny and Indianola as Pleasant Hill and Urbandale but in the opposite direction — meaning in Adel, Ankeny and Indianola, the number of people living below the federal poverty level had fallen by less than 2 or 3 percentage points while the number of people with an income at 250% or more of it had increased.

What does all that mean?

David Peters, a sociology professor at Iowa State University, said that while there's evidence that poverty in the suburbs is growing faster than in Des Moines, "Poverty is still higher in the Des Moines core."

That's true of the sheer number and percentage of people in Des Moines living below the federal poverty level compared to most suburbs.

The exception is Perry, which has a high poverty rate that Peters said has remained unchanged for a decade — 17.5% of people in Perry, or 1,350 people, lived below the federal poverty level in 2021, according to American Community Survey data. Perry is home to a meatpacking plant and a sizable foreign-born population.

Des Moines's 13.2% poverty rate in 2021 was an improvement from 2017. But it was still almost three times higher than in Waukee, and higher than Johnston's 9.8%.

Peters said it's difficult to get data but it's possible that as rents in Des Moines have increased people have been driven to seek lower-cost housing in the closer suburbs, such as Johnston.

Federal stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits offered during the pandemic also make looking at the bigger picture of trends in recent years difficult, Peters said, because those benefits affected people's short-term economic circumstances but not necessarily the long term.

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Suburban nonprofits serving those in need see greater demand

Peters said it could be a good sign that poverty has increased in some suburbs if "that means that those cities are making an effort to provide affordable housing in those communities, so we’re not concentrating the poor in the Des Moines metro in a few neighborhoods."

If that's true, the next question is whether there's enough affordable housing. Andrea Cook, program director at the Partnership Place pantry in Johnston, said the city does not have enough.

And support is about more than just housing. Peters said suburban communities tend to be disconnected from public transportation and social services.

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He said the question becomes, “If the local community has never really had to deal with growing poverty, who does that fall on?”

Waukee Area Christian Services presented a report to the city in May that looked at the potential to partner with the city by moving into a larger, city-owned space.

Stimple said in September that there's no timeline for doing that, but the nonprofit has outgrown its available space.

According to the report, the number of people served through the nonprofit's monthly food pantry grew 70% in 2022, and the number of people served by the anytime food pantry grew 75%.

The number of patients visiting the free medical clinic grew 59%.

The agency also saw significant increases in the number of people who received assistance from outside services and students who received weekend snack packs and school supplies.

Stimple said demand for some services in the first half of 2023 had already surpassed all of 2022.

As with Stimple in Waukee, Cook said that over her nine years in Johnston she's seen more need, especially recently, including elderly clients whose benefits can't keep up with increased expenses. The pantry's financial assistance fund often has a waiting list, she said, and more people are visiting who have not been there in years or have never needed a pantry's services.

Cook said usage is up among longtime residents as well as people who have been priced out of Des Moines.

"You start wondering where the ceiling is. How bad does it have to get?" Cook said.

More: Parents, teachers meet with legislators to address student poverty in Des Moines schools

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Phillip Sitter covers suburban growth and development for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com. He is on Twitter @pslifeisabeauty.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: People in poverty increase in some of Des Moines' suburbs, data shows