Poverty is an important indicator of economic well-being. Federal and state policymakers, as well as community stakeholders often use poverty rates and income-to-poverty ratios as key indicators of current economic conditions within communities and to make comparisons across demographic groups. Poverty rates, measured as the proportion of people in poverty, are often used to identify communities in need and to estimate the number of families eligible for various government programs.

This brief uses the 2018 and 2019 American Community Surveys (ACS) 1-year estimates to analyze poverty rates for 2019 as well as the changes in poverty from 2018 for the nation, states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the most populous metropolitan areas. The brief reviews the current depth of and proximity to poverty based on the distribution of people by income-to-poverty ratios for the aforementioned geographic areas.

Others in Series

Publication

Health Insurance Coverage Among Young Adults Aged 19 to 34 Years: 2018 & 2019

December 2020

Publication

Household Income: 2019

September 17, 2020

This brief uses the 2018 and 2019 American Community Surveys (ACS) 1-year estimates to report changes in median household income and the Gini index.

Publication

Changes in Poverty Rates and Poverty Areas Over Time: 2005 to 2019

December 10, 2020

This brief uses the first instance of three non-overlapping ACS 5-year estimates to analyze poverty rates and poverty areas for the nation, states and counties.

Related Information

Poverty Publications

Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021

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