Literacy Facts

This is why Everyone Deserves a Good Book.

Low literacy is a global issue that affects people around the world, as well as those close to home. Literacy influences education, of course. But did you also know that it affects economics, poverty, crime, and health?

Research has linked childhood poverty with a variety of debilitating societal costs, including low access to books in the home and low literacy. In turn, these factors often lead to low academic achievement, higher dropout rates, higher rates of teen pregnancy, higher costs of crime, and poorer overall health outcomes.

It is important to understand the impact of literacy in the lives of those who have it. More important, perhaps, is our ability to understand the effects of low literacy, as well, and the impact that has on individual success, family economics, community development, and national health. Only then can we develop a substantial fight for change.

Here are just a few literacy facts covering rates in the U.S. and close to home in Buncombe County:

Here are just a few literacy facts covering rates in the US and close to home in Buncombe County:
Data compiled from ProLiteracy.org, the Literacy Council of Buncombe County, and WLOS News 13

U.S. and Local Literacy Facts:

  • 43% of Americans with the lowest literacy rates live in poverty.
  • Among adults over 16, 29% only read at the 8th grade level and 14% read at or below the 5th grade level.
  • A 1% increase in the national average literacy rate would yield a 1.5% permanent increase in the GDP—a $2.3 billion increase.
  • 75% of state prison inmates and 59% of federal prison inmates did not complete high school or can be classified as low literate.
  • Low literacy adds an estimated $232 billion in costs to our national health care system.
  • The effects of low literacy cost the U.S. $232 billion each year in non-productivity and loss of tax revenue due to unemployment.
  • 10% of Buncombe County adults lack a high school diploma.
  • 1 in 10 Buncombe County adults cannot read at a basic level.
  • 1 in 4 Buncombe County children live in poverty, and close to half live in low-income households.
  • 1 in 6 U.S. students drop out of high school. That’s 1.2 million students each year, or one every 9 seconds.
  • High school dropout rates for Asheville City (8%) and Buncombe County (9%) schools are lower than N.C. state overall (15%).