In 2023, about 14.2 percent of New York's population lived below the poverty line. This accounts for persons or families whose collective income in the preceding 12 months was below the national poverty level of the United States. The poverty rate of the United States can be found here.

Graph and download economic data for Percent of Population Below the Poverty Level (5-year estimate) in New York County, NY (S1701ACS036061) from 2012 to 2023 about New York County, NY; New York; poverty; NY; percent; 5-year; population; and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Estimated Percent of People of All Ages in Poverty for New York County, NY (PPAANY36061A156NCEN) from 1989 to 2023 about New York County, NY; New York; child; poverty; NY; percent; and USA.

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.

New York County, NY - Poverty Rate - Historical chart and current data through 2023.

Graph and download economic data for Percent of Population Below the Poverty Level (5-year estimate) in Bronx County, NY (S1701ACS036005) from 2012 to 2023 about Bronx County, NY; New York; poverty; NY; percent; 5-year; population; and USA.

Percent of Population Below the Poverty Level (5-year estimate) in New York County, NY was 15.80% in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Percent of Population Below the Poverty Level (5-year estimate) in New York County, NY reached a record high of 17.90 in January of 2015 and a record low of 15.60 in January of 2020. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Percent of Population Below the Poverty Level (5-year estimate) in New York County, NY - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on September of 2025.

How does your organization use this dataset? What other NYSERDA or energy-related datasets would you like to see on Open NY? Let us know by emailing OpenNY@nyserda.ny.gov. The Low- to Moderate-Income (LMI) New York State (NYS) Census Population Analysis dataset is resultant from the LMI market database designed by APPRISE as part of the NYSERDA LMI Market Characterization Study (https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/lmi-tool). All data are derived from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) files for 2013, 2014, and 2015. Each row in the LMI dataset is an individual record for a household that responded to the survey and each column is a variable of interest for analyzing the low- to moderate-income population. The LMI dataset includes: county/county group, households with elderly, households with children, economic development region, income groups, percent of poverty level, low- to moderate-income groups, household type, non-elderly disabled indicator, race/ethnicity, linguistic isolation, housing unit type, owner-renter status, main heating fuel type, home energy payment method, housing vintage, LMI study region, LMI population segment, mortgage indicator, time in home, head of household education level, head of household age, and household weight. The LMI NYS Census Population Analysis dataset is intended for users who want to explore the underlying data that supports the LMI Analysis Tool. The majority of those interested in LMI statistics and generating custom charts should use the interactive LMI Analysis Tool at https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/lmi-tool. This underlying LMI dataset is intended for users with experience working with survey data files and producing weighted survey estimates using statistical software packages (such as SAS, SPSS, or Stata).

American Community Survey Public Use Micro Sample, augmented by NYC Opportunity.

This file contains poverty rates and related data from the NYCgov poverty measure data. The NYCgov poverty measure is generated annually by the poverty research unit of the Mayor's Office of Economic Opportunity (NYC Opportunity). The data is derived from the American Community Survey Public Use Microsample for NYC, augmented by NYC Opportunity to include imputed estimates for benefit participation and some household expenditures. For information on how the NYCgov poverty rate is constructed see http://www1.nyc.gov/site/opportunity/poverty-in-nyc/poverty-measure.page.

DISCLAIMER: Do not use the visualization tool with this data set. This data set is unweighted. See “Read Me” page in data dictionary for correct use of person and household weights. Visualizations generated from this file will result in incorrect distributions of the data.

For the list of all NYCgov Poverty Measure Data datasets available on the portal please use this link.

Graph and download economic data for Percent of Population Below the Poverty Level (5-year estimate) in Madison County, NY (S1701ACS036053) from 2012 to 2023 about Madison County, NY; Syracuse; poverty; NY; percent; 5-year; population; and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Percent of Population Below the Poverty Level (5-year estimate) in Broome County, NY (S1701ACS036007) from 2012 to 2023 about Broome County, NY; Binghamton; poverty; NY; percent; 5-year; population; and USA.

From February 29 to June 1, 2020, there were 2,706 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in high poverty neighborhoods in New York City, compared to a rate of around 1,787 cases per 100,000 population in low poverty neighborhoods. This statistic illustrates the rate of COVID-19 cases in New York City from February 29 to June 1, 2020, by neighborhood poverty.

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.

Graph and download economic data for Percent of Population Below the Poverty Level (5-year estimate) in Jefferson County, NY (S1701ACS036045) from 2012 to 2023 about Jefferson County, NY; poverty; NY; percent; 5-year; population; and USA.

From February 29 to June 1, 2020, there were 268 deaths due to COVID-19 per 100,000 population in very high poverty neighborhoods in New York City, compared to a rate of around 125 deaths per 100,000 population in low poverty neighborhoods. This statistic illustrates the rate of deaths for COVID-19 in New York City from February 29 to June 1, 2020, by neighborhood poverty.

This resource is a member of a series. The TIGER/Line shapefiles and related database files (.dbf) are an extract of selected geographic and cartographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) System (MTS). The MTS represents a seamless national file with no overlaps or gaps between parts, however, each TIGER/Line shapefile is designed to stand alone as an independent data set, or they can be combined to cover the entire nation. Elementary School Districts are administrative units within which local officials provide public educational services for the area's residents. The Census Bureau obtains the boundaries, names, local education agency codes, grade ranges, and school district levels for school districts from state officials for the primary purpose of providing the U.S. Department of Education with estimates of the number of children aged 5 through 17 in families in poverty within each school district. This information serves as the basis for the Department of Education to determine the annual allocation of Title I funding to states and school districts. The TIGER/Line shapefiles include separate shapefiles for elementary, secondary, and unified school districts, and school district administrative areas. The school district boundaries are those in effect for the 2023-2024 school year, i.e., in operation as of January 1, 2024.

"Enrollment counts are based on the October 31 Audited Register for the 2017-18 to 2019-20 school years. To account for the delay in the start of the school year, enrollment counts are based on the November 13 Audited Register for 2020-21 and the November 12 Audited Register for 2021-22. * Please note that October 31 (and November 12-13) enrollment is not audited for charter schools or Pre-K Early Education Centers (NYCEECs). Charter schools are required to submit enrollment as of BEDS Day, the first Wednesday in October, to the New York State Department of Education." Enrollment counts in the Demographic Snapshot will likely exceed operational enrollment counts due to the fact that long-term absence (LTA) students are excluded for funding purposes. Data on students with disabilities, English Language Learners, students' povery status, and students' Economic Need Value are as of the June 30 for each school year except in 2021-22. Data on SWDs, ELLs, Poverty, and ENI in the 2021-22 school year are as of March 7, 2022. 3-K and Pre-K enrollment totals include students in both full-day and half-day programs. Four-year-old students enrolled in Family Childcare Centers are categorized as 3K students for the purposes of this report. All schools listed are as of the 2021-22 school year. Schools closed before 2021-22 are not included in the school level tab but are included in the data for citywide, borough, and district. Programs and Pre-K NYC Early Education Centers (NYCEECs) are not included on the school-level tab. Due to missing demographic information in rare cases at the time of the enrollment snapshot, demographic categories do not always add up to citywide totals. Students with disabilities are defined as any child receiving an Individualized Education Program (IEP) as of the end of the school year (or March 7 for 2021-22). NYC DOE "Poverty" counts are based on the number of students with families who have qualified for free or reduced price lunch, or are eligible for Human Resources Administration (HRA) benefits. In previous years, the poverty indicator also included students enrolled in a Universal Meal School (USM), where all students automatically qualified, with the exception of middle schools, D75 schools and Pre-K centers. In 2017-18, all students in NYC schools became eligible for free lunch. In order to better reflect free and reduced price lunch status, the poverty indicator does not include student USM status, and retroactively applies this rule to previous years. "The school’s Economic Need Index is the average of its students’ Economic Need Values. The Economic Need Index (ENI) estimates the percentage of students facing economic hardship. The 2014-15 school year is the first year we provide ENI estimates. The metric is calculated as follows: * The student’s Economic Need Value is 1.0 if: o The student is eligible for public assistance from the NYC Human Resources Administration (HRA); o The student lived in temporary housing in the past four years; or o The student is in high school, has a home language other than English, and entered the NYC DOE for the first time within the last four years. * Otherwise, the student’s Economic Need Value is based on the percentage of families (with school-age children) in the student’s census tract whose income is below the poverty level, as estimated by the American Community Survey 5-Year estimate (2020 ACS estimates were used in calculations for 2021-22 ENI). The student’s Economic Need Value equals this percentage divided by 100. Due to differences in the timing of when student demographic, address and census data were pulled, ENI values may vary, slightly, from the ENI values reported in the School Quality Reports. In previous years, student census tract data was based on students’ addresses at the time of ENI calculation. Beginning in 2018-19, census tract data is based on students’ addresses as of the Audited Register date of the g

Graph and download economic data for Percent of Population Below the Poverty Level (5-year estimate) in Chautauqua County, NY (S1701ACS036013) from 2012 to 2023 about Chautauqua County, NY; poverty; NY; percent; 5-year; population; and USA.

ESD provides capital grant funding from the Regional Council Capital Fund available for the State’s Regional Economic Development Council Initiative, which helps drive regional and local economic development across New York State in cooperation with ten Regional Economic Development Councils (“Regional Councils”). Capital grant funding is available for capital-based economic development projects intended to create or retain jobs; prevent, reduce or eliminate unemployment and underemployment; and/or increase business or economic activity in a community or Region. One of the program categories within the program will provide enhanced incentives for projects located in economically distressed areas (census tracts) where investments are needed to spur economic growth. The definition of economically distressed areas (census tracts) can be found below.

For more information and full program guidelines, please see the full program guidelines within the 2025 Available Resources at: https://regionalcouncils.ny.gov/

Economically distressed area shall mean the following based on the census tract for where the project is located:

Severely distressed census tracts shall have at least 25 households receiving public assistance income in the 2023 ACS 5-year estimate and meet at least five of the criteria listed below:Moderately distressed census tracts shall have at least 25 households receiving public assistance income in the 2023 ACS 5-year estimate and meet at least three of the criteria listed below:Slightly distressed census tracts shall have at least 100 households receiving public assistance income in the 2023 ACS 5-year estimate and meet at least two of the criteria listed below:o
Population loss between the 2023 ACS 5-year estimate and the 2019 ACS 5-year estimate – an absolute loss in population.o
Unemployment rate (2023 ACS 5-year estimate) higher than the State’s rate.o
Private sector employment growth rate (2023 ACS 5-year estimate) over the preceding 5 years was lower than the State’s OR private sector employment (2023 ACS 5-year estimate) as a percentage of total employment was less than the State’s.o
Percentage of households receiving public assistance (2023 ACS 5-year estimate) was greater than the statewide percentage.o
Poverty rate (2023 ACS 5-year estimate) was greater than the State’s poverty rate.o
Per Capita Income change (2023 ACS 5-year estimate) over the preceding five years was less than the growth in the consumer price index (CPI) for all urban consumers nationally OR per capita income was less than the State’s per capita income.

Attributes:

Field Name

Data Type

Description

Census Tract

Number

The 11 digit geoid associated with each census tract in New York State. Census tracts are small, relatively permanent statistical subdivisions of a county that average about 4,000 inhabitants.

Stress Level

Number

The stress level number (1-4) associated with the census tract.

Stress Level Description

Text

The stress level description (Not Distressed, Slight Distress, Moderate Distress, Severe Distress) associated with the census tract.

Stress Level Color

Text

The stress level color (Gray, Light Orange, Dark Orange, Red) associated with the census tract.

This statistic shows the median household income in the United States from 1990 to 2023 in 2023 U.S. dollars. The median household income was 80,610 U.S. dollars in 2023, an increase from the previous year. Household incomeThe median household income depicts the income of households, including the income of the householder and all other individuals aged 15 years or over living in the household. Income includes wages and salaries, unemployment insurance, disability payments, child support payments received, regular rental receipts, as well as any personal business, investment, or other kinds of income received routinely. The median household income in the United States varies from state to state. In 2020, the median household income was 86,725 U.S. dollars in Massachusetts, while the median household income in Mississippi was approximately 44,966 U.S. dollars at that time. Household income is also used to determine the poverty line in the United States. In 2021, about 11.6 percent of the U.S. population was living in poverty. The child poverty rate, which represents people under the age of 18 living in poverty, has been growing steadily over the first decade since the turn of the century, from 16.2 percent of the children living below the poverty line in year 2000 to 22 percent in 2010. In 2021, it had lowered to 15.3 percent. The state with the widest gap between the rich and the poor was New York, with a Gini coefficient score of 0.51 in 2019. The Gini coefficient is calculated by looking at average income rates. A score of zero would reflect perfect income equality and a score of one indicates a society where one person would have all the money and all other people have nothing.