JULY 17, 2026 ― The U.S. Census Bureau today announced plans to re-release estimates for the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) from 2019 to 2024. The update comes after the discovery of errors by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which produces the experimental thresholds for the Census Bureau’s SPM. The errors stemmed from methodology changes introduced in 2021, which affected the 2019 and 2020 SPM estimates. Today, BLS published the revised thresholds for 2019-2024 to correct these errors. These thresholds will be used for the revised SPM estimates, which will be published in a working paper prior to the release of the annual poverty report in September.

The Census Bureau produces two poverty measures each year, the Official Poverty Measure and the SPM. The Official Poverty Measure, which was established by the Office of Management and Budget’s Statistical Policy Directive 14, compares money income to a national threshold which is adjusted for family composition but does not vary by geography. The SPM uses an expanded post-tax and transfer measure of resources that adds noncash benefits from government programs such as housing, utility and nutritional assistance, and subtracts taxes and necessary expenses, such as work, childcare and medical. Thresholds for the SPM are produced by BLS using Consumer Expenditure Survey data and vary by family composition, housing tenure and geography.

The Census Bureau is committed to providing quality data on the nation’s people and economy. More information on the impact of the revised thresholds on SPM rates will be provided in the coming weeks.

No news release associated with this announcement. Tip sheet only.

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