Updated National Poverty Data
In September 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau released sobering new figures on poverty, income, and health insurance coverage:
- In 2010, 46.2 million people lived in poverty, the largest number in 52 years for which poverty estimates have been recorded. This marked the fourth consecutive annual increase in the number of people living in poverty in the United States.
- Real median household income declined to $49,445, a 2.3 percent decrease from 2009.
- The percent people without health coverage increased to 49.9 million in 2010.
Read the Census Bureau’s full report: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010.
Regional Inequality
The South continues to be the region most pressed by poverty. In 2010, the South was the only region that showed increases in both the number of people in poverty and poverty rate compared to 2009. There are now 19.1 million people living in poverty in the South, where the poverty rate is 16.9%. This rate is significantly higher than the national rate of 15.1%.
Mississippi continues to be the state with the highest poverty rate, at 22.4%. Mississippi also shows the highest child poverty rate, with 32.5% of children under age 18 in Mississippi living in poverty.
Find your state’s poverty rate here.
Racial Inequality
In 2010, the poverty rate increased for non-Hispanic Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics. However, there continues to be a wide gap between the poverty rates for whites compared to other minority groups. In 2010, non-Hispanic whites experienced a poverty rate of 9.9%, while Hispanics saw a rate of 26.6% and the poverty rate among African Americans was 27.4%. 1 Learn more about Race and Poverty
Source: US Census Bureau
