What are the odds of being poor in the United States? In 1989, they were a little better than 1 in 8. The Nation’s 1989 poverty rate – 13.1 percent – was higher than its 1979 rate (12.4 percent) but lower than the rate in 1969 (13.7 percent).

This Brief uses data collected by the 1990, 1980, and 1970 Censuses of Population to examine changes in poverty rates over the past two decades for the 50 States and the District of Columbia.