Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Statistics

September 12, 2023

DATA USER NOTE:

On July 17, 2026, the Bureau of Labor Statistics re-released SPM thresholds for 2019-2024 following the discovery of coding errors. The U.S. Census Bureau will publish revised SPM poverty rates using these updated thresholds prior to the release of the annual poverty report in September. Refer to BLS statement and Census statement for more information.

Online News Conference

Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, at 10 a.m. EDT

The U.S. Census Bureau held an online news conference to announce the findings of three reports estimating income, poverty and health insurance coverage in the United States.

Presentations

Income, Poverty and Health Insurance: 2022 [5.1 MB]
Income in the United States: 2022 [1.2 MB]
Poverty in the United States: 2022 [2.0 MB]
Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2022 [1.8 MB]
Remarks: Income, Poverty and Health Insurance: 2022 News Conference [<1.0 MB]

News

Speaker Bios

David Waddington

Division Chief, Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division, U.S. Census Bureau
Sharon Stern

Assistant Division Chief, Employment Characteristics Branch Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division, U.S. Census Bureau
Liana Fox

Assistant Division Chief, Economic Characteristics Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division, U.S. Census Bureau
Michael C. Cook, Sr.

Senior Advisor, Office of the Director U.S. Census Bureau

Subject Matter Expert Bios

John Creamer

Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) Team Lead, Economic Characteristics Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division, U.S. Census Bureau
Matthew Unrath

Chief, Income Statistics Branch Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division, U.S. Census Bureau
Katherine Keisler-Starkey

Economist Health and Disability Statistics Branch Economic Characteristics Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division, U.S. Census Bureau
Brian Glassman

Poverty Statistics Branch Chief, Economic Characteristics Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division, U.S. Census Bureau
Kelly Holder

Health and Disability Statistics Branch Chief, Economic Characteristics Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division

Reports

Tables

Report Figures

America Counts

Graphics

Measuring the Nation’s Social and Economic Well-Being

Median household income, percentage of people in poverty, Supplemental Poverty Measure, and percentage of people without health insurance.
Median Household Income

Income decreased from the 2021 estimate.
Official Poverty Measure

Poverty rate was not significantly different from 2021.
Health Insurance Coverage

25.9 million people were uninsured in 2022.
Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM)

The SPM rate increased between 2021 and 2022.

Blogs

What’s the Difference Between the Supplemental and Official Poverty Measures?

There has been continued debate about the best way to measure poverty in the U.S. since the first official U.S. poverty statistics were published.
How Inflation Affects the Census Bureau’s Income and Earnings Estimates

On Sept. 12, 2023, the U.S. Census Bureau will release a new report comparing estimates of median income and earnings between 2021 and 2022.
Using Administrative Data to Evaluate Nonresponse Bias in the 2023 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement

Working Papers

Fact Sheet

Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage

In this fact sheet, we explore the CPS ASEC as a source of U.S. Census Bureau income, poverty, and health insurance coverage data released in September.

Background

Income

Census money income is defined as income received on a regular basis before payments for taxes, social security, etc. and does not reflect noncash benefits.
Poverty

If a family's total income is less than the official poverty threshold for a family of that size and composition, then they are considered to be in poverty.
Health Insurance

The Bureau collects health insurance data using three national surveys: CPS ASEC, ACS, and SIPP.
2022 Press kit: Income, Poverty and Health Insurance

Annual release of national-level income, poverty and health insurance coverage statistics.
News release: Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2022

The U.S. Census Bureau announced that real median household income in 2021 was not statistically different than 2020.
2021 Press kit: Income, Poverty and Health Insurance

Annual release of national-level income, poverty and health insurance coverage statistics.
News release: Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2019

The U.S. Census Bureau is scheduled to hold an online news conference on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021 at 10 a.m. EDT.
Census Bureau Announces Key Dates for Upcoming Releases 

The U.S. Census Bureau’s schedule for the release of the 2022 Income, Poverty and Health Insurance statistics from the CPS ASEC and ACS.