In 2023, 15.4 percent of Black families were living below the poverty line in the United States. Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing, and shelter.

In 2023, **** percent of Black people living in the United States were living below the poverty line, compared to *** percent of white people. That year, the total poverty rate in the U.S. across all races and ethnicities was **** percent. Poverty in the United States Single people in the United States making less than ****** U.S. dollars a year and families of four making less than ****** 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.

In 2023, there were about 336,000 Black married-couple families living below the poverty level in the United States. Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter.

In the U.S., the share of the population living in poverty fluctuated significantly throughout the six decades between 1987 and 2023. In 2023, the poverty level across all races and ethnicities was 11.1 percent. Black Americans have been the ethnic group with the highest share of their population living in poverty almost every year since 1974. In 1979 alone, Black poverty was well over double the national average, and over four times the poverty rate in white communities; in 1982, almost 48 percent of the Black population lived in poverty. Although poverty rates have been trending downward across all ethnic groups, 17.8 percent of Black Americans and 18.9 percent of American Indian and Alaskan Natives still lived below the poverty line in 2022.

Graph and download economic data for Estimated Percent of People of All Ages in Poverty for Black Hawk County, IA (PPAAIA19013A156NCEN) from 1989 to 2023 about Black Hawk County, IA; Waterloo; IA; child; poverty; percent; and USA.

This map shows child poverty in the US by county, with an emphasis on the Black children living in poverty.The darkest colors in the map highlight where there are a higher percentage of Black children living in poverty. The symbol size shows the count of all children living in poverty. The data comes from County Health Rankings, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, measure the health of nearly all counties in the nation and rank them within states. The layer used in the map comes from ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, and the full documentation for the layer can be found here. To explore other child poverty patterns, visit the following maps:Where is Black child poverty higher than total child poverty?Which race has the highest rate of child poverty?

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.

This dataset contains R/ECAP data for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Region at the census tract level.

To assist communities in identifying racially/ethnically-concentrated areas of poverty (R/ECAPs), HUD has developed a census tract-based definition of R/ECAPs.

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. Because overall poverty levels are substantially lower in many parts of the country, HUD supplements this with an alternate criterion. Thus, a neighborhood can be a R/ECAP if it has a poverty rate that exceeds 40% or is three or more times the average tract poverty rate for the metropolitan/micropolitan area, whichever threshold is lower. Census tracts with this extreme poverty that satisfy the racial/ethnic concentration threshold are deemed R/ECAPs.

Data Source: Decennial census (2010); American Community Survey (ACS), 2006-2010; Brown Longitudinal Tract Database (LTDB) based on decennial census data, 2000 & 1990 References: Wilson, William J. (1980). The Declining Significance of Race: Blacks and Changing American Institutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Data Source: American Community Survey (ACS), 2009-2013; Decennial Census (2010); Brown Longitudinal Tract Database (LTDB) based on decennial census data, 1990, 2000 & 2010.

Related AFFH-T Local Government, PHA Tables/Maps: Table 4, 7; Maps 1-17.

Related AFFH-T State Tables/Maps: Table 4, 7; Maps 1-15, 18.

References: Wilson, William J. (1980). The Declining Significance of Race: Blacks and Changing American Institutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Graph and download economic data for Estimate of People Age 0-17 in Poverty in Black Hawk County, IA (PEU18IA19013A647NCEN) from 1989 to 2023 about Black Hawk County, IA; Waterloo; under 18 years; IA; child; poverty; persons; and USA.

The data in this repository includes a database of Black Economists created for reference in the Francis, Hardy, and Jones (2021) article "Black Economists on Race and Policy: Contributions to Education, Poverty and Mobility, and Public Finance" in the Journal of Economic Literature. The database is stored in a comma separated file, i.e. .csv. The data were all collected from publicly available data online via scholar websites, biographical entries, and curricula vitae.

Graph and download economic data for 90% Confidence Interval Lower Bound of Estimate of People Age 0-17 in Poverty for Black Hawk County, IA (PECILBU18IA19013A647NCEN) from 1989 to 2023 about Black Hawk County, IA; Waterloo; under 18 years; IA; child; poverty; persons; and USA.

In 1990, 48.1 percent of all Black families with a single mother in the United States lived below the poverty level. In 2023, that figure had decreased to 25.9 percent. This is significantly higher than white households with a single mother. Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter.

Graph and download economic data for Percent of Population Below the Poverty Level (5-year estimate) in Black Hawk County, IA (S1701ACS019013) from 2012 to 2023 about Black Hawk County, IA; Waterloo; IA; poverty; percent; 5-year; population; and USA.

This map compares two different rates of child poverty:The percent of all children who live below the poverty lineThe percent of Black children who live below the poverty lineThe higher rate between the two is shown by the associated color. The size of the symbol shows the count of all children living in poverty. The pattern is shown by US counties.The data comes from County Health Rankings, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, measure the health of nearly all counties in the nation and rank them within states. The layer used in the map comes from ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, and the full documentation for the layer can be found here. To explore other child poverty patterns, visit the following maps:Black Children in Poverty in the USWhich race has the highest rate of child poverty?

In 2023, there were about 1.6 million Black families living below the poverty level in the United States. Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter.

Between 2018 and 2022, people in households in the ‘other’, Asian and black ethnic groups were the most likely to be in persistent low income, both before and after housing costs, out of all ethnic groups.

This map highlights child poverty in the US by which race has the highest percentage of children in poverty. The pattern is shown by county, and the popup provides a breakdown of child poverty rates by race (where available). Note that not all counties have data for all races, so the map will show the predominant value based on the data available.The data comes from County Health Rankings, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, measure the health of nearly all counties in the nation and rank them within states. The layer used in the map comes from ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, and the full documentation for the layer can be found here. To explore other child poverty patterns, visit the following maps:Where is Black child poverty higher than total child poverty?Black Children in Poverty in the US

Estimated Percent of Related Children Age 5-17 in Families in Poverty for Black Hawk County, IA was 13.60% in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Estimated Percent of Related Children Age 5-17 in Families in Poverty for Black Hawk County, IA reached a record high of 21.30 in January of 2010 and a record low of 9.10 in January of 2001. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Estimated Percent of Related Children Age 5-17 in Families in Poverty for Black Hawk County, IA - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.

The Black food insecurity rate in the United States was in 2022. Explore a map of black hunger statistics in the United States at the state and local level.

Estimated Percent of People of All Ages in Poverty for Black Hawk County, IA was 14.20% in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Estimated Percent of People of All Ages in Poverty for Black Hawk County, IA reached a record high of 18.00 in January of 2010 and a record low of 9.80 in January of 2001. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Estimated Percent of People of All Ages in Poverty for Black Hawk County, IA - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on September of 2025.