List of U.S. states and territories by poverty rate explained

This list of U.S. states and territories by poverty rate covers the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the territory of Puerto Rico and their populations' poverty rate. The four other inhabited U.S. territories (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) are listed separately.

The data source for the main list is the U.S. Census Bureau's five-year American Community Survey taken 2016 - 2020.^[1] The American Community Survey is a large demographic survey collected throughout the year using mailed questionnaires, telephone interviews, and visits from Census Bureau field representatives to about 3.5 million household addresses annually, regardless of their legal immigration status.

Overall, out of Americans for whom the Census Bureau was able to determine poverty status, 42.31 million lived below the poverty line (or 13.15% of the total population). Poverty rates were highest in the states of Mississippi (19.58%), Louisiana (18.65%), New Mexico (18.55%), West Virginia (17.10%), Kentucky (16.61%), and Arkansas (16.08%), and they were lowest in the states of New Hampshire (7.42%), Maryland (9.02%), Utah (9.13%), Hawaii (9.26%).

U.S. Census Bureau table

In the list below, the population in each state and territory of the U.S. by specific poverty status can be found. The list is initially sorted by poverty rate but the table headers can be clicked to sort by any column.^[1]

Poverty rate by state or territory, 2016-2020
State or territory		Population under poverty line	Poverty rate
	3,227,457	1,400,958	43.41%
style=text-align:left		2,883,074	564,439	19.58%
style=text-align:left		4,532,187	845,230	18.65%
style=text-align:left		2,053,909	381,026	18.55%
style=text-align:left		1,755,591	300,152	17.10%
style=text-align:left		4,322,881	717,895	16.61%
style=text-align:left		2,923,585	470,190	16.08%
style=text-align:left		4,771,614	762,642	15.98%
style=text-align:left		669,089	103,391	15.45%
style=text-align:left		3,833,712	585,520	15.27%
style=text-align:left		4,950,181	726,470	14.68%
style=text-align:left		6,603,468	965,213	14.62%
style=text-align:left		10,238,369	1,461,572	14.28%
style=text-align:left		28,013,446	3,984,260	14.22%
style=text-align:left		7,012,999	990,528	14.12%
style=text-align:left		10,098,330	1,411,939	13.98%
style=text-align:left		9,753,541	1,337,256	13.71%
style=text-align:left		11,350,378	1,546,011	13.62%
style=text-align:left		19,009,098	2,581,048	13.58%
style=text-align:left		20,793,628	2,772,939	13.34%
style=text-align:left		5,942,813	772,992	13.01%
style=text-align:left		6,491,632	838,149	12.91%
style=text-align:left		849,910	108,863	12.81%
style=text-align:left		1,036,490	132,476	12.78%
style=text-align:left		2,987,817	381,695	12.78%
style=text-align:left		38,589,882	4,853,434	12.58%
style=text-align:left		4,096,744	506,558	12.36%
style=text-align:left		12,418,504	1,488,670	11.99%
style=text-align:left		12,387,061	1,480,430	11.95%
style=text-align:left		1,722,972	205,676	11.94%
style=text-align:left		1,017,028	117,785	11.58%
style=text-align:left		2,828,498	323,644	data-sort-value = 11.442%	11.44%
style=text-align:left		941,266	107,641	data-sort-value = 11.436%	11.44%
style=text-align:left		3,051,284	339,090	11.11%
style=text-align:left		1,304,038	144,384	11.07%
style=text-align:left		5,659,485	620,947	10.97%
style=text-align:left		599,938	64,700	10.78%
style=text-align:left		566,858	61,006	10.76%
style=text-align:left		735,842	77,491	10.53%
style=text-align:left		1,869,467	193,820	10.37%
style=text-align:left		719,445	74,369	10.34%
style=text-align:left		7,372,433	751,044	10.19%
style=text-align:left		8,255,575	826,708	10.01%
style=text-align:left		6,637,329	653,454	9.85%
style=text-align:left		3,466,935	339,156	data-sort-value = 9.783%	9.78%
style=text-align:left		5,563,823	544,232	data-sort-value = 9.782%	9.78%
style=text-align:left		8,713,792	842,704	9.67%
style=text-align:left		5,476,956	511,185	9.33%
style=text-align:left		1,381,577	127,971	9.26%
style=text-align:left		3,102,049	283,360	9.13%
style=text-align:left		5,894,835	531,553	9.02%
style=text-align:left		1,312,770	97,418	7.42%
style=text-align:left		style=text-align:right;	321,791,585	style=text-align:right;	42,311,284	style=text-align:right;	13.15%

U.S. territories

Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands are data deficient (because they are not included in the American Community Survey), not all recent poverty rate estimates have been made for them. Below are the poverty rates for these territories in 2010.

Territory	2010 Poverty rate
American Samoa	59.9%
Northern Mariana Islands	52.3%
Guam	22.9%
	22.4%

USDA map

From United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).^[2]

USDA table

Row numbers are static. Other columns are sortable. This allows ranking of any column.

Links below are "Economy of STATE" links.

! colspan=4
					90% confidence interval of estimate			90% confidence interval of estimate
All people in poverty (2021)	Children ages 0-17 in poverty (2021)
States and D.C.			Percent		Lower Bound	Upper Bound	Percent	Lower Bound	Upper Bound
National	12.8	12.7	12.9	16.9	16.7	17.1
	16.3	15.9	16.7	22.7	21.9	23.5
	10.8	10.3	11.3	13.5	12.7	14.3
	12.9	12.6	13.2	17.8	17.2	18.4
	16	15.6	16.4	21.8	21	22.6
	12.3	12.2	12.4	15.8	15.5	16.1
	9.7	9.5	9.9	11.8	11.2	12.4
	10.1	9.8	10.4	12.9	12.2	13.6
	11.5	11	12	16.2	15.3	17.1
	16.8	15.9	17.7	25.5	22.5	28.5
	13.2	13	13.4	18.4	17.8	19
	14.2	13.9	14.5	20.5	19.9	21.1
	10.9	10.4	11.4	12.9	12	13.8
	10.8	10.3	11.3	12.5	11.7	13.3
	12.1	11.9	12.3	15.9	15.4	16.4
	12.1	11.8	12.4	15.7	15.1	16.3
	11	10.6	11.4	12.4	11.8	13
	11.6	11.2	12	13.5	12.8	14.2
	16.3	16	16.6	21.2	20.5	21.9
	19.5	19.1	19.9	26.9	26.1	27.7
	11.2	10.7	11.7	13.8	12.9	14.7
	10.3	10	10.6	14	13.4	14.6
	10.4	10.2	10.6	12.8	12.2	13.4
	13	12.8	13.2	17.6	17.1	18.1
	9.3	9.1	9.5	10.8	10.3	11.3
	19.2	18.7	19.7	27.1	26.2	28
	12.8	12.5	13.1	16.5	15.9	17.1
	12	11.5	12.5	14.9	14.1	15.7
	10.5	10.1	10.9	12.1	11.3	12.9
	14	13.6	14.4	18.8	18	19.6
	7.4	7	7.8	9.3	8.5	10.1
	10.2	10	10.4	13.9	13.3	14.5
	17.7	17.1	18.3	23.1	22.1	24.1
	14	13.8	14.2	18.8	18.3	19.3
	13.5	13.2	13.8	18.2	17.6	18.8
	10.9	10.3	11.5	11.5	10.6	12.4
	13.3	13.1	13.5	18.2	17.7	18.7
	15.4	15.1	15.7	20.5	19.8	21.2
	12.2	11.9	12.5	13.8	13.1	14.5
	12	11.8	12.2	16.3	15.7	16.9
	12.1	11.6	12.6	17	16.1	17.9
	14.5	14.2	14.8	19.7	19	20.4
	11.9	11.4	12.4	14.4	13.5	15.3
	13.7	13.4	14	18.4	17.8	19
	14.2	14	14.4	19.5	19	20
	8.7	8.3	9.1	8.5	7.9	9.1
	10.2	9.7	10.7	11.2	10.3	12.1
	10.3	10.1	10.5	13.3	12.8	13.8
	9.9	9.7	10.1	12	11.4	12.6
	16.8	16.3	17.3	21.4	20.5	22.3
	10.8	10.6	11	13.6	13.1	14.1
	10.6	9.9	11.3	12.1	11.1	13.1

Notes

These metrics are set at a federal level, and thus do not adjust for local cost of living metrics that change purchasing power. Census poverty rates that adjust for cost of living may be more useful for some purposes.

External links

Total Number of People Living in Poverty based on Household Income (In Thousands), 2005. State Health Facts. December 14, 2007.
Poverty Rate based on Household Income, 2005 . State Health Facts. December 14, 2007.
Geographic Adjustments of Supplemental Poverty Measure Thresholds: Using the American Community Survey Five-Year Data on Housing Costs Accessed November 27, 2012.
The Research Supplemental Poverty Measure Accessed June 5, 2014.
https://web.archive.org/web/20110718124023/https://www.thewebhospitality.com/social-bookmarking-sites-list/

Notes and References

Web site: TABLE S1701 - POVERTY STATUS IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS . Census - Table Results . U.S. Census Bureau . 17 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220317203306/https://data.census.gov/akam/13/6c19aa5a . 17 March 2022 . 17 March 2022 . live.
https://data.ers.usda.gov/reports.aspx?ID=17826 Poverty by state