MONTGOMERY (AP) -- About one out of every six Alabama residents live below the poverty line and one out of every five children are living in poverty, according to a study released by the Alabama Poverty Project.

The study, prepared by the Auburn University Montgomery Center for Demographic and Cultural Research, found that the number of Alabama residents in poverty was reduced during the economic growth of the 1990s, but that in many rural counties the poverty rate remains over 30 percent.

The state's poorest county is Wilcox in rural Southwest Alabama, where 39.9 percent of residents and 47 percent of children live below the poverty level, according to the study, which was based on census figures and other statistical data from the years 1990 and 2000.

The lowest poverty rate was in Shelby County, in Birmingham's southern suburbs, where 6.3 percent of residents were living in poverty.

The statewide poverty rate was 16.1 percent.

"This shows that our greatest poverty is among our children," said Wayne Flynt, a retired Auburn University history professor who is president of the board of the poverty project.

Flynt said the 143-page report would be given to all members of the Alabama Legislature and to politicians seeking statewide offices. It is also available online.

"Never again will they (politicians) be able to say 'I didn't know that' concerning poverty because they did know that, because we're going to give them a copy of this," Flynt said.

The report includes an extensive analysis of poverty figures for each of Alabama's 67 counties, including per capita income, the amount of money being spent per student on education and the percent of households being headed by women. In Wilcox County the per capita income was $10,903 and 66.9 percent of homes had a woman listed as the head of household, while the per capita income in Shelby County was $27,176 and 25.7 percent of households were headed by a female. -------------------Poverty data for Alabama: -- Poverty rate: 16.1 percent -- Poverty rate among children 17 and under: 21.5 percent -- Blacks living below poverty level: 31.3 percent -- Whites living below poverty level: 10.5 percent -- Families with female head of household: 44.6 percent -- Persons Medicaid-eligible: 15.7 percent -- Per capita income: $18,189 -- Median household income: $34,135

Source: Alabama Poverty Project based on census and other statistical data from 1990 and 2000.