The official poverty rate is 10.6 percent, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s reports for 2024. That year, an estimated 35.9 million Americans lived in poverty according to the official measure. The poverty rate fell 0.4 percentage points from 2023. According to the supplemental poverty measure, the rate was 12.9 percent, statistically unchanged from 2023.
Each year, the U.S. Census Bureau counts people in poverty with
two measures. Both the official and supplemental poverty measures
are based on estimates of the level of income needed to cover
basic needs. Those who live in households with earnings below
those incomes are considered to be in poverty.
Poverty thresholds are the income dollar amounts used by the U.S. Census Bureau solely as a statistical yardstick to determine a household’s poverty status. They are issued each year in September and are the basis for determining the national poverty rate.
The U.S. Census Bureau defines “deep poverty” as living in a
household with a total cash income below 50 percent of its
poverty threshold. According to the Census Bureau,
16.8 million people lived in deep poverty in 2024. Those in
deep poverty represented 5.0 percent of the total population
and 47.8 percent of those in poverty, up from 34 percent the
previous year.
The War on Poverty began in 1964 with a stream of legislation that in two years would build the foundation of today’s social safety net. Today’s safety net includes means-tested programs, which require proof of low income to qualify, as well as major benefit programs which are not based on income, such as Social Security and Medicare.
