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Poverty

Poverty

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Within Poverty

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Poverty

The Census Bureau provides poverty data from several household surveys and programs. Here you can find poverty estimates, learn about these surveys and programs, and get guidance on how to choose the right estimate for your needs.

Featured

Table

Poverty Rates by Survey

November 2024

Poverty rates for all people and by major age groups for the CPS ASEC, the ACS, and the SIPP.
Publication

Poverty in States and Metropolitan Areas: 2023

September 12, 2024

This brief uses the 2022 and 2023 American Community Surveys 1-year estimates to analyze poverty rates for states, metropolitan areas, and the nation.
Publication

Poverty in the United States: 2023

September 10, 2024

This report presents data on poverty in the United States based on information collected in the 2024 and earlier CPS ASEC.
Table

Poverty Thresholds

Poverty Thresholds by Size of Family and Number of Related Children Under 18 Years Source: Current Population Survey (CPS)
Guidance for Poverty Data Users

Get more background on each survey or program, the difference between them, and how to choose the right data source for your needs.

News

Press Release

Census Bureau Releases Community Resilience Estimates for Puerto Rico

May 15, 2025

The 2023 Community Resilience Estimates for Puerto Rico show level of social vulnerability to disasters for the commonwealth, municipios and census tracts.
Press Release

Census Bureau Releases Updated Estimates from NEWS Project

January 29, 2025

Today the U.S. Census Bureau released new findings from its National Experimental Well-Being Statistics (NEWS) project.
Press Release

Census Bureau Releases SAIPE for States, Counties and School Districts

December 17, 2024

The median estimated poverty rate of children ages 5 to 17 in school districts in 2023 was 13.4%, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Publications

Publication

Poverty in States and Metropolitan Areas: 2023

September 12, 2024

This brief uses the 2022 and 2023 American Community Surveys 1-year estimates to analyze poverty rates for states, metropolitan areas, and the nation.
Publication

Poverty in the United States: 2023

September 10, 2024

This report presents data on poverty in the United States based on information collected in the 2024 and earlier CPS ASEC.
Publication

Persistent Poverty in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Island Areas

August 07, 2024

This brief uses data from the past 30 years to determine counties (and county equivalents) in persistent poverty.

Data

Table

Poverty Rates by Survey

November 2024

Poverty rates for all people and by major age groups for the CPS ASEC, the ACS, and the SIPP.
Table

Poverty in the United States: 2023

September 10, 2024

These tables present data on poverty in the United States based on information collected in the 2023 and earlier CPS ASEC.
Table

Corrected Annual and Monthly SIPP Poverty Rates: 2014-2022

February 2024

These tables provide the annual and monthly poverty rates for the 2014-2022 SIPP following the implementation of a post-hoc correction.

Working Papers

Working Paper

The Inclusion of the Incarcerated Population in Income and Poverty Estimates in the ACS

June 2025

This paper examines the effect of including data on the incarcerated population in income and poverty estimates.
Working Paper

Technical Documentation of Intermediate Tables for Improved Imputation

January 2025

This technical documentation describes a new data release that will aid users of the CPS ASEC tax variables.
Working Paper

The Composition of the Population Deprived in Multiple Dimensions

December 05, 2024

The Multidimensional Deprivation Index (MDI) is a measure of deprivation in six dimensions estimated from the American Community Survey.

All Subtopics Within 'Income and Poverty'

Income

Census money income is defined as income received on a regular basis before payments for taxes, social security, etc. and does not reflect noncash benefits.
Income Inequality

Income inequality is the extent to which income is distributed unevenly among a population.
Poverty

If a family's total income is less than the official poverty threshold for a family of that size and composition, then they are considered to be in poverty.
Program Income and Public Assistance

Public assistance refers to assistance programs that provide either cash or in-kind benefits to individuals and families from any governmental entity.
Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates (SAIPE)

The Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program provides more current estimates for the administration and allocation of federal programs and funds.
Supplemental Poverty Measure

In 2009, the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) created a Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) to replace previous experimental poverty measures.
Wealth and Asset Ownership

Household net worth or wealth is an important defining factor of economic well-being - it can become an additional source of income in hard times or retirement.
Well-Being

Factors that contribute to well-being include income, possession of consumer durables, housing and neighborhood conditions, and the meeting of basic needs.