Americans make up less than 5% of the world’s population while earning more than 20% of the world’s total income. Despite this, one in 10 Americans lives in poverty, according to the Census Bureau. January is National Poverty in America Awareness Month. Those living in poverty can find it difficult to afford necessities like housing or food.
In 2020, there were 37.2 million people in poverty, approximately 3.3 million more than in 2019 (Figure 8 and Table B-1). Between 2019 and 2020, the poverty rate increased for non-Hispanic Whites and Hispanics. Among non-Hispanic Whites, 8.2 percent were in poverty in 2020, while Hispanics had a poverty rate of 17.0 percent.
In 2021, a family of four would be considered impoverished by the government if the household income was at or below $26,500. In contrast, the median household income for a family of the same size was $90,657.
The poverty rate for married-couple families increased from 4.0 percent in 2019 to 4.7 percent in 2020. For families with a female householder, the poverty rate increased from 22.2 percent to 23.4 percent.
37.2 million peopleIn 2020, there were 37.2 million people in poverty, approximately 3.3 million more than in 2019 (Figure 8 and Table B-1). Between 2019 and 2020, the poverty rate increased for non-Hispanic Whites and Hispanics.
As of 2020, 11.4% of the US lives in poverty. That's a one percentage point increase over 2019, the first poverty rate increase in six years.
This means that 13.4% of the national population lives below the poverty line. This is equal to more than approximately 42.5 million Americans living below the poverty line.
In the United States, 10.5% of the population — 34 million people — live in poverty as of 2019. For an individual in the U.S., the poverty line is $12,880 a year, or about $35.28 per day. These numbers are calculated based on income and a person's ability to meet basic needs.
11.4%In 2020, approximately 37.2 million people had incomes below the official definition of poverty in the United States, which was an increase from 34.0 million people in 2019. The poverty rate rose to 11.4% from 10.5%.
But when some benefits were renewed or extended in January 2021, the monthly poverty estimate declined to 13.2%. “In fact, throughout the entire year of 2021, the poverty rate has been lower than that 16.1% that we saw in December 2020,” Parolin said.
Poverty. The US has the second-highest rate of poverty among rich countries (poverty here measured by the percentage of people earning less than half the national median income.)
In 2019, the share of Blacks in poverty was 1.8 times greater than their share among the general population. Blacks represented 13.2% of the total population in the United States, but 23.8% of the poverty population. The share of Hispanics in poverty was 1.5 times more than their share in the general population.
1 billion peopleCurrently, 1 billion people worldwide live on less than one dollar a day, the threshold defined by the international community as constituting extreme poverty.
Monthly poverty remained elevated in February 2022, with a 14.4 percent poverty rate for the total US population. This is a slight decrease from 14.7 percent in January 2022, but a continuation of the spike from the December 2021 monthly poverty rate of 12.5 percent.
Relative poverty refers to the degree that some groups lack resources compared to others; absolute poverty refers to a lack of resources that is life threatening.
The U.S. federal government uses federal poverty guidelines to determine eligibility for programs and federal poverty thresholds to calculate numbers of people living in poverty.
Poverty is linked to factors such as race, gender, age, and class, and responses to poverty are connected to social and cultural views about why poverty occurs.
Median household income was $67,521 in 2020, a decrease of 2.9 percent from the 2019 median of $69,560 (Figure 1 and Table A-1). This is the first statistically significant decline in median household income since 2011.
Figure 1. Median Household Income and Percent Change by Selected Characteristics [<1.0 MB]
Figure 3. Income Distribution Measures and Percent Change Using Money Income and Equivalence-Adjusted Income [<1.0 MB]
For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar21.pdf [PDF - <1.0 MB].