Poverty in the United States


Historical national poverty rates
Poverty by state, 1990 to present
Poverty by age, 1988 to present

Under 18 | 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-54 | 55-64 | 65 up
Notes: Official estimates of poverty appear in P60 reports from the U.S. Census Bureau, which bases estimates on the March Current Population Survey. The estimates on these pages are also based on the March Current Population Survey, but are not official estimates. Near poverty includes those with incomes less than twice the poverty line, and deep poverty those with incomes less than half the poverty line. State-specific estimates are two-year weighted moving averages. Contact Austin Nichols at the Urban Institute for details of calculations. Note that the Census Bureau’s Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program also produces annual poverty estimates for all states and counties, based on data from a variety of sources, including administrative records. The SAIPE estimates have lower variance than March CPS estimates but are released later due to the delayed availability of administrative records.