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.

VITAL SIGNS INDICATOR
Poverty (EQ5)

FULL MEASURE NAME
The share of the population living in households that earn less than 200 percent of the federal poverty limit

LAST UPDATED
January 2023

DESCRIPTION
Poverty refers to the share of the population living in households that earn less than 200 percent of the federal poverty limit, which varies based on the number of individuals in a given household. It reflects the number of individuals who are economically struggling due to low household income levels.

DATA SOURCE
U.S Census Bureau: Decennial Census - http://www.nhgis.org
1980-2000

U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey - https://data.census.gov/
2007-2021
Form C17002

CONTACT INFORMATION
vitalsigns.info@mtc.ca.gov

METHODOLOGY NOTES (across all datasets for this indicator)
The U.S. Census Bureau defines a national poverty level (or household income) that varies by household size, number of children in a household, and age of householder. The national poverty level does not vary geographically even though cost of living is different across the United States. For the Bay Area, where cost of living is high and incomes are correspondingly high, an appropriate poverty level is 200% of poverty or twice the national poverty level, consistent with what was used for past equity work at MTC and ABAG. For comparison, however, both the national and 200% poverty levels are presented.

For Vital Signs, the poverty rate is defined as the number of people (including children) living below twice the poverty level divided by the number of people for whom poverty status is determined. The household income definitions for poverty change each year to reflect inflation. The official poverty definition uses money income before taxes and does not include capital gains or non-cash benefits (such as public housing, Medicaid and food stamps).

For the national poverty level definitions by year, see: US Census Bureau Poverty Thresholds - https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-poverty-thresholds.html.

For an explanation on how the Census Bureau measures poverty, see: How the Census Bureau Measures Poverty - https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty/guidance/poverty-measures.html.

American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year data is used for larger geographies – Bay counties and most metropolitan area counties – while smaller geographies rely upon 5-year rolling average data due to their smaller sample sizes. Note that 2020 data uses the 5-year estimates because the ACS did not collect 1-year data for 2020.

To be consistent across metropolitan areas, the poverty definition for non-Bay Area metros is twice the national poverty level. Data were not adjusted for varying income and cost of living levels across the metropolitan areas.

This is a re-symbolization of the data found here: https://dallasgis.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=6fc65a96d79944e093a04cd507a25a34 It allows for a quick look at the poverty rates in and around zipcodes in the Dallas Metro area.The census tract data was obtained for the state of Texas from the Census Bureau's TIGER/Line files and clipped to City of Dallas boundaries. Table S1701 (Poverty Status in the Past 12 Months)ZipCodes: https://dallasgis.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=aca3ce05245c460f88fd7d77be09749e The Postal Service does not publish ZIP codes as you would think of them in a polygonal format. They are merely a collection of carrier routes. Zipcode Mapping is at best an approximation of the carrier routes, and subject to change without notice.National ZipCodes: https://dallasgis.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=0a2fde8aa7404187917488bafcbc77e6

The Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (Safety and Soundness Act) provides for the establishment of single-family and multifamily goals each year, including a single-family purchase money mortgage goal for families residing in low-income areas. The Safety and Soundness Act defines "low-income area" as: (a) census tracts or block numbering areas in which the median income does not exceed 80 percent of area median income (AMI), (b) families with income not greater than 100 percent of AMI who reside in minority census tracts, and (c) families with income not greater than 100 percent of AMI who reside in designated disaster areas. A “minority census tract” is a census tract that has a minority population of at least 30 percent and a median income of less than 100 percent of the AMI. Census tract level data identifying these areas are available below for 2010 and 2011 based on 2000 Census tract geography, for 2012 through 2021 based on 2010 Census tract geography, and for 2022 and subsequent years based on 2020 Census tract geography.

Nearly 9 million Americans live in extreme-poverty neighborhoods, places that also tend to be racially segregated and dangerous. Yet, the effects on the well-being of residents of moving out of such communities into less distressed areas remain uncertain. Moving to Opportunity (MTO) is a randomized housing experiment administered by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development that gave low-income families living in high-poverty areas in five cities the chance to move to lower-poverty areas. Families were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) The experimental group (also called the low-poverty voucher (LPV) group) received Section 8 rental assistance certificates or vouchers that they could use only in census tracts with 1990 poverty rates below 10 percent. The families received mobility counseling and help in leasing a new unit. One year after relocating, families could use their voucher to move again if they wished, without any special constraints on location. (2) The Section 8 group (also called the traditional voucher (TRV) group) received regular Section 8 certificates or vouchers that they could use anywhere; these families received no special mobility counseling. (3) The control group received no certificates or vouchers through MTO, but continued to be eligible for project-based housing assistance and whatever other social programs and services to which they would otherwise be entitled. Families were tracked from baseline (1994-98) through the long-term evaluation survey fielding period (2008-10) with the purpose of determining the effects of "neighborhood" on participating families. This data collection contains data from the 3,273 adult interviews completed as part of the MTO long-term evaluation and are comprised of adult variables that have been analyzed. Using data from the long-term evaluation, the associated article reports that moving from a high-poverty to lower-poverty neighborhood leads to long-term (10- to 15-year) improvements in adult physical and mental health and subjective well-being, despite not affecting economic self-sufficiency. The data contain all adult outcomes and mediators analyzed for the associated article as well as a variety of demographic and other baseline measures that were controlled for in the analysis.

Poverty Area MeasuresThis data product provides poverty area measures for counties across 50 States and Washington DC. The measures include indicators of high poverty areas, extreme poverty areas, persistent poverty areas, and enduring poverty areas for Decennial Census years 1960–2000 and for American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year periods spanning both 2007–11 and 2015–19.HighlightsThis data product uniquely provides poverty area measures at the census-tract level for decennial years 1970 through 2000 and 5-year periods spanning 2007–11 and 2015–19.The poverty area measure—enduring poverty—is introduced, which captures the entrenchment of high poverty in counties for Decennial Census years 1960–2000 and for ACS 5-year periods spanning 2007–11 and 2015–19. The same is available for census tracts beginning in 1970.High and extreme poverty area measures are provided for various data years, offering end-users the flexibility to adjust persistent poverty area measures to meet their unique needs.All measures are geographically standardized to allow for direct comparison over time and for census tracts within county analysis.Diverse geocoding is provided, which can be used for mapping/GIS applications, to link to supplemental data (e.g., USDA, Economic Research Service’s Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America), and to explore various spatial categories (e.g., regions and metro/nonmetro status). DefinitionsHigh poverty: areas with a poverty rate of 20.0 percent or more in a single time period.Extreme poverty: areas with a poverty rate of 40.0 percent or more in a single time period.Persistent poverty: areas with a poverty rate of 20.0 percent or more for 4 consecutive time periods, about 10 years apart, spanning approximately 30 years (baseline time period plus 3 evaluation time periods).Enduring poverty: areas with a poverty rate of 20.0 percent or more for at least 5 consecutive time periods, about 10 years apart, spanning approximately 40 years or more (baseline time period plus four or more evaluation time periods).Additional information about the measures can be found in the downloadable Excel file, which includes the documentation, data, and codebook for the poverty area measures (county and tract).The next update to this data product—planned for early 2023—is expected to include the addition of poverty area measures for the 5-year period 2017–21.Data SetLast UpdatedNext UpdatePoverty area measures (in CSV format)11/10/2022Poverty area measures11/10/2022Poverty Area MeasuresOverviewBackground and UsesERS's Legacy of Poverty Area MeasurementDocumentationDescriptions and MapsLast updated: Thursday, November 10, 2022For more information, contact: Tracey Farrigan and Austin SandersRecommended CitationU.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Poverty Area Measures, November 2022.

This table contains data on the percentage of the total population living below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), and the percentage of children living below 200% FPL for California, its regions, counties, cities, towns, public use microdata areas, and census tracts. Data for time periods 2011-2015 (overall poverty) and 2012-2016 (child poverty) and with race/ethnicity stratification is included in the table. The poverty rate table is part of a series of indicators in the Healthy Communities Data and Indicators Project of the Office of Health Equity. Poverty is an important social determinant of health (see http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview.aspx?topicid=39) that can impact people’s access to basic necessities (housing, food, education, jobs, and transportation), and is associated with higher incidence and prevalence of illness, and with reduced access to quality health care. More information on the data table and a data dictionary can be found in the About/Attachments section.

In 2023, the poverty rate in Vietnam was around *** percent in urban areas, while that of rural areas was around *** percent. In that year, the poverty rate in the country was *** percent.

The 2020-2021 School Neighborhood Poverty Estimates are based on school locations from the 2020-2021 Common Core of Data (CCD) school file and income data from families with children ages 5 to 17 in the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017-2021 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year collection. The ACS is a continuous household survey that collects social, demographic, economic, and housing information from the population in the United States each month. The Census Bureau calculates the income-to-poverty ratio (IPR) based on money income reported for families relative to the poverty thresholds, which are determined based on the family size and structure. Noncash benefits (such as food stamps and housing subsidies) are excluded, as are capital gains and losses. The IPR is the percentage of family income that is above or below the federal poverty level. The IPR indicator ranges from 0 to a top-coded value of 999. A family with income at the poverty threshold has an IPR value of 100. The estimates in this file reflect the IPR for the neighborhoods around schools which may be different from the neighborhood conditions of students enrolled in schools.All information contained in this file is in the public domain. Data users are advised to review NCES program documentation and feature class metadata to understand the limitations and appropriate use of these data.

China's progress in poverty reduction over the last 25 years is enviable. One cannot fail to be impressed by what this vast nation of 1.3 billion people has achieved in so little time. In terms of a wide range of indicators, the progress has been remarkable. Poverty in terms of income and consumption has been dramatically reduced. Progress has also been substantial in terms of human development indicators. Most of the millennium development goals have either already been achieved or the country is well on the way to achieving them. As a result of this progress, the country is now at a very different stage of development than it was at the dawn of the economic reforms at the beginning of the 1980s. China's poverty reduction performance has been even more striking. Between 1981 and 2004, the fraction of the population consuming below this poverty line fell from 65 percent to 10 percent, and the absolute number of poor fell from 652 million to 135 million, a decline of over half a billion people. The most rapid declines in poverty, in both the poverty rate and the number of poor, occurred during the 6th, 8th, and 10th plans. During the 7th plan period the number of poor actually rose, while in the 9th plan period, the poverty rate declined only marginally. But the pace of poverty reduction resumed between 2001 and 2004 and there are indications that during the first couple of years of the 11th plan poverty has continued to decline rapidly. The most recent official estimate of rural poverty in China for 2007 puts the number of poor at 14.79 million, or less than 2 percent of the rural population. While there is no official urban poverty line, estimates by others have found poverty levels in urban areas to be negligible using an urban poverty line that is comparable to the official poverty line for rural areas. These estimates thus suggest that only about 1 percent of China's population is currently in extreme poverty. Notwithstanding this tremendous success, the central thesis of this report is that the task of poverty reduction in many ways continues and in some respects has become more demanding.

This map compares the number of people living above the poverty line to the number of people living below. Why do this?There are people living below the poverty line everywhere. Nearly every area of the country has a balance of people living above the poverty line and people living below it. There is not an "ideal" balance, so this map makes good use of the national ratio of 6 persons living above the poverty line for every 1 person living below it. Please consider that there is constant movement of people above and below the poverty threshold, as they gain better employment or lose a job; as they encounter a new family situation, natural disaster, health issue, major accident or other crisis. There are areas that suffer chronic poverty year after year. This map does not indicate how long people in the area have been below the poverty line. "The poverty rate is one of several socioeconomic indicators used by policy makers to evaluate economic conditions. It measures the percentage of people whose income fell below the poverty threshold. Federal and state governments use such estimates to allocate funds to local communities. Local communities use these estimates to identify the number of individuals or families eligible for various programs." Source: U.S. Census BureauIn the U.S. overall, there are 6 people living above the poverty line for every 1 household living below. Green areas on the map have a higher than normal number of people living above compared to below poverty. Orange areas on the map have a higher than normal number of people living below the poverty line compared to those above in that same area.The map shows the ratio for counties and census tracts, using these layers, created directly from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS)For comparison, an older layer using 2013 ACS data is also provided.The layers are updated annually to contain the most currently released American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data, and contains estimates and margins of error. There are also additional calculated attributes related to this topic, which can be mapped or used within analysis. Poverty status is based on income in past 12 months of survey. Current Vintage: 2014-2018ACS Table(s): B17020Data downloaded from: Census Bureau's API for American Community Survey National Figures: data.census.govThe United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS):About the SurveyGeography & ACSTechnical DocumentationNews & UpdatesThis ready-to-use layer can be used within ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, its configurable apps, dashboards, Story Maps, custom apps, and mobile apps. Data can also be exported for offline workflows. Please cite the Census and ACS when using this data.Data Note from the Census:Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see Accuracy of the Data). The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables.Data Processing Notes:This layer is updated automatically when the most current vintage of ACS data is released each year, usually in December. The layer always contains the latest available ACS 5-year estimates. It is updated annually within days of the Census Bureau's release schedule. Click here to learn more about ACS data releases.Boundaries come from the US Census TIGER geodatabases. Boundaries are updated at the same time as the data updates (annually), and the boundary vintage appropriately matches the data vintage as specified by the Census. These are Census boundaries with water and/or coastlines clipped for cartographic purposes. For census tracts, the water cutouts are derived from a subset of the 2010 AWATER (Area Water) boundaries offered by TIGER. For state and county boundaries, the water and coastlines are derived from the coastlines of the 500k TIGER Cartographic Boundary Shapefiles. The original AWATER and ALAND fields are still available as attributes within the data table (units are square meters). The States layer contains 52 records - all US states, Washington D.C., and Puerto RicoCensus tracts with no population that occur in areas of water, such as oceans, are removed from this data service (Census Tracts beginning with 99).Percentages and derived counts, and associated margins of error, are calculated values (that can be identified by the "_calc_" stub in the field name), and abide by the specifications defined by the American Community Survey.Field alias names were created based on the Table Shells file available from the American Community Survey Summary File Documentation page.Negative values (e.g., -555555...) have been set to null. These negative values exist in the raw API data to indicate the following situations:The margin of error column indicates that either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute a standard error and thus the margin of error. A statistical test is not appropriate.Either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute an estimate, or a ratio of medians cannot be calculated because one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or upper interval of an open-ended distribution.The median falls in the lowest interval of an open-ended distribution, or in the upper interval of an open-ended distribution. A statistical test is not appropriate.The estimate is controlled. A statistical test for sampling variability is not appropriate.The data for this geographic area cannot be displayed because the number of sample cases is too small. NOTE: any calculated percentages or counts that contain estimates that have null margins of error yield null margins of error for the calculated fields.

This data release includes GIS shapefiles and metadata for location of the study area and phytoplankton taxonomy counts determined by Dr. Russel Rhodes, Faculty Emeritus, Department of Biology, Missouri State University, in three north Louisiana reservoirs: Cross Lake, Bayou D'Arbonne Lake, and Poverty Point Reservoir, June 2009-February 2011. These data and GIS coverages complement and support the findings in the companion report by Tollett and others (in review).

Datasets for Figure 2 and Figure 3

To assist communities in identifying racially/ethnically-concentrated areas of poverty (R/ECAPs), HUD has developed a census tract-based definition of R/ECAPs. The definition involves a racial/ethnic concentration threshold and a poverty test. The racial/ethnic concentration threshold is straightforward: R/ECAPs must have a non-white population of 50 percent or more. Regarding the poverty threshold, Wilson (1980) defines neighborhoods of extreme poverty as census tracts with 40 percent or more of individuals living at or below the poverty line.

This map compares the number of households living above the poverty line to the number of households living below. In the U.S. overall, there are 6.2 households living above the poverty line for every 1 household living below. Green areas on the map have a higher than normal number of households living above compared to below poverty. Orange areas on the map have a higher than normal number of households living below the poverty line compared to those above in that same area.In this map you see the ratio of households living above the poverty line to households living below the poverty line. For the U.S. overall, there are 6.2 households living above the poverty line for every household living below. This map is shaded to clearly show which areas have about the same ratio as the U.S. overall, and which areas have far more families living above poverty or far more families living below poverty than "normal.""The poverty rate is one of several socioeconomic indicators used by policy makers to evaluate economic conditions. It measures the percentage of people whose income fell below the poverty threshold. Federal and state governments use such estimates to allocate funds to local communities. Local communities use these estimates to identify the number of individuals or families eligible for various programs." Source: U.S. Census BureauThe map shows the ratio for states, counties, tracts and block groups, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) for 2013 for the previous 12 months. -------------------The Civic Analytics Network collaborates on shared projects that advance the use of data visualization and predictive analytics in solving important urban problems related to economic opportunity, poverty reduction, and addressing the root causes of social problems of equity and opportunity. For more information see About the Civil Analytics Network.

The Poverty Mapping Project: Small Area Estimates of Poverty and Inequality data set consists of consumption-based poverty, inequality and related measures for subnational administrative Units in approximately twenty countries throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. These measures are derived on a country-level basis from a combination of census and survey data using small area estimates techniques. The collection of data have been compiled, integrated and standardized from the original data providers into a unified spatially referenced and globally consistent data set. The data products include shapefiles (vector data), tabular data sets (csv format), and centroids (csv file with latitude and longitude of a geographic Unit and associated poverty estimates). Additionally, a data catalog (xls format) containing detailed information and documentation is provided. This data set is produced by the Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) in collaboration with a number of external data providers.

This map compares the number of households living above the poverty line to the number of households living below. In the U.S. overall, there are 6.2 households living above the poverty line for every 1 household living below. Green areas on the map have a higher than normal number of households living above compared to below poverty. Orange areas on the map have a higher than normal number of households living below the poverty line compared to those above in that same area.In this map you see the ratio of households living above the poverty line to households living below the poverty line. For the U.S. overall, there are 6.2 households living above the poverty line for every household living below. This map is shaded to clearly show which areas have about the same ratio as the U.S. overall, and which areas have far more families living above poverty or far more families living below poverty than "normal.""The poverty rate is one of several socioeconomic indicators used by policy makers to evaluate economic conditions. It measures the percentage of people whose income fell below the poverty threshold. Federal and state governments use such estimates to allocate funds to local communities. Local communities use these estimates to identify the number of individuals or families eligible for various programs." Source: U.S. Census BureauThe map shows the ratio for states, counties, tracts and block groups, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) for 2013 for the previous 12 months. -------------------The Civic Analytics Network collaborates on shared projects that advance the use of data visualization and predictive analytics in solving important urban problems related to economic opportunity, poverty reduction, and addressing the root causes of social problems of equity and opportunity. For more information see About the Civil Analytics Network.

In 2019, the highest poverty rate in Romania was registered in the North-East region of the country, at around ** percent, by 2022 it dropped to **** percent, and in 2023 it rose up to **** percent, making it the poorest region. By contrast, the north-western part of Romania had the lowest poverty rate in the country, at **** percent.

Graph and download economic data for Estimated Percent of People of All Ages in Poverty for United States (PPAAUS00000A156NCEN) from 1989 to 2023 about child, poverty, percent, and USA.

The Census Bureau determines that a person is living in poverty when his or her total household income compared with the size and composition of the household is below the poverty threshold. The Census Bureau uses the federal government's official definition of poverty to determine the poverty threshold. Beginning in 2000, individuals were presented with the option to select one or more races. In addition, the Census asked individuals to identify their race separately from identifying their Hispanic origin. The Census has published individual tables for the races and ethnicities provided as supplemental information to the main table that does not dissaggregate by race or ethnicity. Race categories include the following - White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, Some other race, and Two or more races. We are not including specific combinations of two or more races as the counts of these combinations are small. Ethnic categories include - Hispanic or Latino and White Non-Hispanic. This data comes from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates, table B17001. The ACS collects these data from a sample of households on a rolling monthly basis. ACS aggregates samples into one-, three-, or five-year periods. CTdata.org generally carries the five-year datasets, as they are considered to be the most accurate, especially for geographic areas that are the size of a county or smaller.Poverty status determined is the denominator for the poverty rate. It is the population for which poverty status was determined so when poverty is calculated they exclude institutionalized people, people in military group quarters, people in college dormitories, and unrelated individuals under 15 years of age.Below poverty level are households as determined by the thresholds based on the criteria of looking at household size, Below poverty level are households as determined by the thresholds based on the criteria of looking at household size, number of children, and age of householder.number of children, and age of householder.