In 2023, the poverty rate of the United States was around 11.4 percent. Louisiana was the state with the highest poverty rate, at 18.9 percent. Poverty rates in the United States are higher than in many parts of the world, and minority groups are much more likely to be living in poverty when compared to white people.

Out of all OECD countries, Cost Rica had the highest poverty rate as of 2022, at over 20 percent. The country with the second highest poverty rate was the United States, with 18 percent. On the other end of the scale, Czechia had the lowest poverty rate at 6.4 percent, followed by Denmark.

The significance of the OECD

The OECD, or the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, was founded in 1948 and is made up of 38 member countries. It seeks to improve the economic and social well-being of countries and their populations. The OECD looks at issues that impact people’s everyday lives and proposes policies that can help to improve the quality of life.

Poverty in the United States

In 2022, there were nearly 38 million people living below the poverty line in the U.S.. About one fourth of the Native American population lived in poverty in 2022, the most out of any ethnicity. In addition, the rate was higher among young women than young men. It is clear that poverty in the United States is a complex, multi-faceted issue that affects millions of people and is even more complex to solve.

In 2023, 17.9 percent of Black people living in the United States were living below the poverty line, compared to 7.7 percent of white people. That year, the total poverty rate in the U.S. across all races and ethnicities was 11.1 percent. Poverty in the United States Single people in the United States making less than 12,880 U.S. dollars a year and families of four making less than 26,500 U.S. dollars a year are considered to be below the poverty line. Women and children are more likely to suffer from poverty, due to women staying home more often than men to take care of children, and women suffering from the gender wage gap. Not only are women and children more likely to be affected, racial minorities are as well due to the discrimination they face. Poverty data Despite being one of the wealthiest nations in the world, the United States had the third highest poverty rate out of all OECD countries in 2019. However, the United States' poverty rate has been fluctuating since 1990, but has been decreasing since 2014. The average median household income in the U.S. has remained somewhat consistent since 1990, but has recently increased since 2014 until a slight decrease in 2020, potentially due to the pandemic. The state that had the highest number of people living below the poverty line in 2020 was California.

The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metropolitan area in Texas was ranked first with 27.2 percent of its population living below the poverty level in 2023. Eagle Pass, Texas had the second-highest poverty rate, at 24.4 percent.

In 2025, nearly 11.7 percent of the world population in extreme poverty, with the poverty threshold at 2.15 U.S. dollars a day, lived in Nigeria. Moreover, the Democratic Republic of the Congo accounted for around 11.7 percent of the global population in extreme poverty. Other African nations with a large poor population were Tanzania, Mozambique, and Madagascar. Poverty levels remain high despite the forecast decline Poverty is a widespread issue across Africa. Around 429 million people on the continent were living below the extreme poverty line of 2.15 U.S. dollars a day in 2024. Since the continent had approximately 1.4 billion inhabitants, roughly a third of Africa’s population was in extreme poverty that year. Mozambique, Malawi, Central African Republic, and Niger had Africa’s highest extreme poverty rates based on the 2.15 U.S. dollars per day extreme poverty indicator (updated from 1.90 U.S. dollars in September 2022). Although the levels of poverty on the continent are forecast to decrease in the coming years, Africa will remain the poorest region compared to the rest of the world. Prevalence of poverty and malnutrition across Africa Multiple factors are linked to increased poverty. Regions with critical situations of employment, education, health, nutrition, war, and conflict usually have larger poor populations. Consequently, poverty tends to be more prevalent in least-developed and developing countries worldwide. For similar reasons, rural households also face higher poverty levels. In 2024, the extreme poverty rate in Africa stood at around 45 percent among the rural population, compared to seven percent in urban areas. Together with poverty, malnutrition is also widespread in Africa. Limited access to food leads to low health conditions, increasing the poverty risk. At the same time, poverty can determine inadequate nutrition. Almost 38.3 percent of the global undernourished population lived in Africa in 2022.

Graph and download economic data for Poverty Universe, All Ages for Honolulu County/city, HI (PUAAHI15003A647NCEN) from 1998 to 2023 about Honolulu County/City, HI; Honolulu; HI; poverty; and USA.

Analysis of ‘Percentage of Births in High Poverty for Adolescents’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/dade7d7c-e5d2-474b-9b61-405d2a18889a on 27 January 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

This dataset contains an indicator concerning births among adolescents aged 15-19: Percentage of Births in High Poverty Area (PBHP). Early childbearing is an important public health issue that can be addressed by monitoring surveillance data such as percentage of births in high poverty area (PBHP). This data, particularly across small areas such as Medical Service Areas, are a valuable part of surveillance that informs program planning efforts targeting localized needs. The indicator (PBHP) is stratified by adolescent mothers' race and Hispanic ethnicity. The race and Hispanic ethnic groups in this table utilize four mutually exclusive race and ethnicity categories. These categories are Hispanic (HISP) and the following Non-Hispanic categories of Black, Asian, and White. Data should not be compared to previous data where birth rates were presented by Medical Service Study Area due to differences in methodology and population data sources. A link to the full report about these current data can be found here http://www.cdph.ca.gov/data/statistics/Documents/150603CAABRPRBPOVbymssaapprovedCM.pdf

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

Bachelor's degree or higher Poverty Rate Statistics for 2023. This is part of a larger dataset covering poverty in New York by age, education, race, gender, work experience and more.

Bachelor's degree or higher Poverty Rate Statistics for 2023. This is part of a larger dataset covering poverty in New Hampshire by age, education, race, gender, work experience and more.

All the 20 countries with the highest poverty rates in the world are located in Africa. The Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique were the two countries with the highest share of people living on less than 2.15 U.S. dollars a day when adjusting for 2017 Purchasing Power Parities (PPP), both at over 70 percent.

Graph and download economic data for Poverty Universe, All Ages for Hawaii (PUAAHI15000A647NCEN) from 1998 to 2023 about HI, poverty, and USA.

Poverty Universe, All Ages for Kauai County, HI was 73056.00000 Persons in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Poverty Universe, All Ages for Kauai County, HI reached a record high of 73056.00000 in January of 2023 and a record low of 56679.00000 in January of 1998. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Poverty Universe, All Ages for Kauai County, HI - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on March of 2025.

This report was written in collaboration between the Mayor's Office of Innovation and the Rochester Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative (RMAPI) and released in December 2019. Executive SummaryThe Rochester Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative (RMAPI) has selected single female headed households with children as one of its key target populations in which to focus strategy and its next phase of initiatives. This report is intended to provide additional insight on this population to support the next phase of RMAPI’s strategic planning as well as broader advocacy efforts on behalf of this population.

We begin with a brief summary of historic policy and societal factors known to have contributed to the current day inequities, written in collaboration with content experts from RMAPI.

The core of this report is a fact sheet based on analysis of US Census data. Major findings include:

Finding 1: Families headed by unmarried parents are a significant segment of the city population and account for the majority of individuals living below the poverty level in the city.

Finding 2: Unmarried households with children experience lower incomes, lower rates of home ownership, and higher rent burdens compared to their married counterparts

Finding 3: Women and people of color are overrepresented among the heads of unmarried households with children.

Finding 4: Four in ten unmarried householders with children have less than a high school education. Nearly 80 percent of those without a high school education are in poverty.

Finding 5: Unmarried householders with children in poverty are more likely to be disabled or face other common barriers to employment.

Finding 6: The more adults present in unmarried households with children, the less likely that household is to be in poverty. This trend amplifies when considering the number of employed adults.

Finding 7: Unmarried parents under age 40 head the majority of all households with children in Rochester. Younger householders correlate with higher poverty rates regardless of marriage status.

Finding 8: A birth before age 20, being unmarried, and having not completed high school education are three factors that, when compounded, are associated with poor economic outcomes.

Finding 9: The highest densities of unmarried householders with children are clustered in the highest poverty neighborhoods in the city of Rochester

We end with a discussion of the gaps in available data, acknowledging that there is room for further investigation and interpretation, data collection, and insights. We recommend readers to think critically about what is presented and how it might impact their own work in poverty reduction efforts. We present a series of questions that are a jumping off point for new inquiry and reflection. Methodology can be found in the Appendix.

Data Source:2017 Census American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Public Microdata SampleData and documentation can be accessed here:https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/data/pums.html

Bachelor's degree or higher Poverty Rate Statistics for 2023. This is part of a larger dataset covering poverty in Hawaii by age, education, race, gender, work experience and more.

In 2023, about four percent of the people with a Bachelor's degree or higher were living below the poverty line in the United States. This is far below the poverty rate of those without a high school diploma, which was 25.1 percent in 2023.

Bachelor's degree or higher Poverty Rate Statistics for 2023. This is part of a larger dataset covering poverty in Port St. Lucie, Florida by age, education, race, gender, work experience and more.

In 2021, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was the city with the highest poverty rate of the United States' most populated cities. In this statistic, the cities are sorted by poverty rate, not population. The most populated city in 2021 according to the source was New York city - which had a poverty rate of 18 percent.

Bachelor's degree or higher Poverty Rate Statistics for 2023. This is part of a larger dataset covering poverty in Sterling Heights, Michigan by age, education, race, gender, work experience and more.

All the 20 countries with the highest poverty gaps worldwide at 3.65 U.S. dollars a day in 2017 Purchasing Power Parities were located in Africa. Democratic Republic of Congo had the most severe poverty levels at 59 percent. Moreover, most of the countries with the highest poverty gaps are also the countries with the highest poverty rates in the world. Whereas the poverty rate only measures the share of the population living below the poverty line, the poverty gap measures the severity of the poverty.

Bachelor's degree or higher Poverty Rate Statistics for 2023. This is part of a larger dataset covering poverty in Chula Vista, California by age, education, race, gender, work experience and more.