Persons Below Poverty Level, by State statistics

[Based on the Current Population Survey (CPS), except columns so designated as census. The CPS is designed tocollect reliable data on income primarily at the national level and secondarily at the regional level. When the income data are tabulated by state, the estimates are considered less reliable and, therefore, particular caution should be used when trying to interpret the results; for additional detail, see source]


	Number below poverty level (1,000)			Number below poverty level (1,000)					Number below poverty level (1,000)					Number below poverty level (1,000)					Number below poverty level (1,000)					Percent below poverty level			Percent below poverty level					Percent below poverty level					Percent below poverty level					Percent below poverty level
State
	1969	1979	1989																					1969	1979	1989
	CENSUS	CENSUS	CENSUS	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987¹	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	CENSUS	CENSUS	CENSUS	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987¹	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999


United States...................................................................................	27,125	27,393	31,743	29,272	31,822	34,398	35,303	33,700	33,064	32,370	32,221	31,745	31,528	33,585	35,708	36,880	39,265	38,059	36,425	36,529	35,574	34,476	32,258	13.7	12.4	13.1	13.0	14.0	15.0	15.2	14.4	14.0	13.6	13.4	13.0	12.8	13.5	14.2	14.5	15.1	14.5	13.8	13.7	13.3	12.7	11.8

Alabama...................................................................................	857	720	724	810	935	849	904	738	821	959	851	775	770	779	786	715	725	704	882	595	665	609	671	25.4	18.9	18.3	21.2	24.1	21.6	22.9	19.1	20.6	23.8	21.3	19.3	18.9	19.2	18.8	17.1	17.4	16.4	20.1	14.0	15.7	14.5	15.1
Alaska...................................................................................	35	42	48	36	36	46	61	49	45	59	60	53	51	57	62	53	52	61	45	54	56	60	47	12.6	10.7	9	9.6	9.0	10.6	12.4	9.6	8.7	11.4	12.0	11.0	10.5	11.4	11.8	10.0	9.1	10.2	7.1	8.2	8.8	9.4	7.6
Arizona...................................................................................	264	351	564	354	323	408	476	569	345	484	444	491	502	484	532	554	615	673	700	980	797	812	579	15.3	13.2	15.7	12.8	11.7	14.8	16.5	18.2	10.7	14.3	12.8	14.1	14.1	13.7	14.8	15.1	15.4	15.9	16.1	20.5	17.2	16.6	12.0
Arkansas...................................................................................	523	424	437	484	541	527	493	564	541	499	537	527	442	472	425	424	484	369	376	449	515	377	375	27.8	19	19.1	21.5	24.1	23.8	21.6	23.9	22.9	21.3	21.8	21.6	18.3	19.6	17.3	17.4	20.0	15.3	14.9	17.2	19.7	14.7	14.7
California...................................................................................	2,153	2,627	3,628	2,619	3,216	3,475	3,743	3,375	3,596	3,453	3,443	3,687	3,772	4,128	4,825	4,925	5,803	5,658	5,342	5,472	5,459	5,118	4,677	11.1	11.4	12.5	11.0	13.3	14.1	14.9	13.2	13.6	12.7	12.3	13.2	12.9	13.9	15.7	15.8	18.2	17.9	16.7	16.9	16.6	15.4	13.8
Colorado...................................................................................	263	285	375	247	285	387	387	274	324	426	398	405	393	461	347	353	354	335	335	412	320	363	351	12.3	10.1	11.7	8.6	9.6	12.6	12.5	8.9	10.2	13.5	12.5	12.5	12.1	13.7	10.4	10.6	9.9	9.0	8.8	10.6	8.2	9.2	8.3
Connecticut...................................................................................	212	243	217	255	254	254	274	218	237	186	207	128	90	196	287	303	277	344	318	392	282	310	235	7.2	8	6.8	8.3	8.2	8.1	8.7	6.9	7.6	6.0	6.6	4.0	2.9	6.0	8.6	9.4	8.5	10.8	9.7	11.7	8.6	9.5	7.1
Delaware...................................................................................	58	68	56	68	72	70	51	63	71	79	42	57	68	48	53	55	73	57	74	63	72	80	79	10.9	11.9	8.7	11.8	12.3	11.5	8.5	10.3	11.4	12.4	6.6	8.6	10.0	6.9	7.5	7.6	10.2	8.3	10.3	8.6	9.6	10.3	10.4
District of Columbia...................................................................................	123	113	96	131	111	117	129	128	123	77	88	88	102	120	98	108	158	129	122	130	113	114	77	17	18.6	16.9	20.9	18.1	19.3	21.3	21.1	20.4	12.8	14.9	15.2	18.0	21.1	18.6	20.3	26.4	21.2	22.2	24.1	21.8	22.3	14.9
Florida...................................................................................	1,088	1,287	1,604	1,692	1,704	1,601	1,611	1,693	1,551	1,342	1,523	1,704	1,590	1,896	2,069	2,097	2,507	2,128	2,321	2,037	2,056	1,923	1,867	16.4	13.5	12.7	16.7	16.6	15.2	14.8	15.1	13.4	11.4	12.4	13.6	12.5	14.4	15.4	15.3	17.8	14.9	16.2	14.2	14.3	13.1	12.4
Georgia...................................................................................	924	884	923	727	881	1,074	1,047	981	1,037	879	883	875	929	1,001	1,077	1,151	919	1,012	878	1,097	1,109	1,034	1,005	20.7	16.6	14.7	13.9	16.3	19.6	18.8	16.9	17.7	14.6	14.6	14.0	15.0	15.8	17.2	17.8	13.5	14.0	12.1	14.8	14.5	13.5	12.9
Hawaii...................................................................................	69	92	88	81	108	132	135	92	109	109	95	117	122	121	90	129	91	97	122	142	164	131	132	9.3	9.9	8.3	8.5	11.3	13.2	13.4	9.3	10.7	10.7	8.8	11.1	11.3	11.0	7.7	11.0	8.0	8.7	10.3	12.1	13.9	10.9	10.9
Idaho...................................................................................	92	117	131	138	171	151	169	171	159	180	150	124	126	157	144	160	150	137	167	140	183	165	175	13.2	12.6	13.3	14.7	17.7	15.6	17.3	17.3	16.0	18.5	15.1	12.5	12.4	14.9	13.9	15.0	13.1	12.0	14.5	11.9	14.7	13.0	13.9
Illinois...................................................................................	1,112	1,231	1,327	1,386	1,371	1,512	1,628	1,753	1,830	1,517	1,655	1,436	1,470	1,606	1,598	1,836	1,600	1,464	1,459	1,429	1,349	1,234	1,206	10.2	11	11.9	12.3	12.1	13.4	14.4	15.0	15.6	13.3	14.4	12.7	12.7	13.7	13.5	15.3	13.6	12.4	12.4	12.1	11.2	10.1	9.9
Indiana...................................................................................	493	516	574	645	685	683	867	697	639	674	597	560	749	714	866	660	704	816	545	428	515	547	395	9.7	9.7	10.7	11.8	12.6	12.6	16.1	12.9	12.0	12.7	11.1	10.1	13.7	13.0	15.7	11.7	12.2	13.7	9.6	7.5	8.8	9.4	6.7
Iowa...................................................................................	319	286	307	311	368	371	471	419	505	376	419	263	291	289	271	327	290	302	352	279	270	257	211	11.6	10.1	11.5	10.8	13.1	13.4	16.7	14.6	17.9	12.9	14.5	9.4	10.3	10.4	9.6	11.3	10.3	10.7	12.2	9.6	9.6	9.1	7.5
Kansas...................................................................................	275	232	275	215	267	247	319	260	331	269	225	195	262	259	317	277	327	375	273	287	250	250	318	12.7	10.1	11.5	9.4	11.7	10.4	13.5	10.7	13.8	11.1	9.2	8.1	10.8	10.3	12.3	11.0	13.1	14.9	10.8	11.2	9.7	9.6	12.2
Kentucky...................................................................................	718	626	682	701	708	587	673	709	708	630	634	634	576	628	683	723	763	710	572	658	623	521	470	22.9	17.6	19	19.3	19.3	16.2	18.0	19.1	19.4	17.7	17.3	17.6	16.1	17.3	18.8	19.7	20.4	18.5	14.7	17.0	15.9	13.5	12.1
Louisiana...................................................................................	933	765	967	868	938	976	942	888	781	953	1,071	968	950	952	795	1,020	1,119	1,117	849	873	691	821	823	26.3	18.6	23.6	20.3	22.0	22.7	21.6	20.6	18.1	22.0	25.1	22.8	23.3	23.6	19.0	24.2	26.4	25.7	19.7	20.5	16.3	19.1	19.2
Maine...................................................................................	131	141	128	158	179	156	143	152	134	115	134	159	128	162	171	170	196	113	138	135	124	131	135	13.6	13	10.8	14.6	16.0	13.7	12.4	13.0	11.9	10.2	11.7	13.2	10.4	13.1	14.1	13.4	15.4	9.4	11.2	11.2	10.1	10.4	10.6
Maryland...................................................................................	387	405	385	389	442	516	354	358	364	414	420	457	411	468	432	568	479	541	520	522	422	359	356	10.1	9.8	8.3	9.5	10.7	12.3	8.6	8.7	8.7	9.2	9.2	9.8	9.0	9.9	9.1	11.6	9.7	10.7	10.1	10.3	8.4	7.2	7.3
Massachusetts...................................................................................	473	532	519	542	518	590	439	519	544	538	477	497	513	626	637	580	641	585	665	622	732	528	722	8.6	9.6	8.9	9.5	8.9	10.3	7.7	8.9	9.2	9.2	8.2	8.5	8.8	10.7	11.0	10.0	10.7	9.7	11.0	10.1	12.2	8.7	11.7
Michigan...................................................................................	819	946	1,191	1,194	1,184	1,481	1,517	1,495	1,308	1,267	1,095	1,112	1,228	1,315	1,308	1,254	1,475	1,347	1,174	1,068	1,006	1,097	977	9.4	10.4	13.1	12.9	13.0	16.2	16.8	16.7	14.5	13.9	12.2	12.1	13.2	14.3	14.1	13.5	15.4	14.1	12.2	11.2	10.3	11.0	9.7
Minnesota...................................................................................	398	375	435	342	438	546	508	381	523	517	484	514	478	524	564	554	506	523	427	458	457	498	346	10.7	9.5	10.2	8.7	10.9	13.3	12.3	9.1	12.6	12.5	11.3	11.6	11.2	12.0	12.9	12.8	11.6	11.7	9.2	9.8	9.6	10.3	7.2
Mississippi...................................................................................	767	587	631	591	618	562	668	628	644	695	637	704	566	684	635	660	639	515	630	575	455	486	444	35.4	23.9	25.2	24.3	25.7	22.9	26.9	25.1	25.1	26.6	25.0	27.2	22.0	25.7	23.7	24.5	24.7	19.9	23.5	20.6	16.7	17.6	16.1
Missouri...................................................................................	672	582	663	625	634	699	808	720	689	722	716	662	654	700	740	797	832	797	484	500	627	531	633	14.7	12.2	13.3	13.0	13.2	14.6	16.7	14.5	13.7	14.4	14.0	12.7	12.6	13.4	14.8	15.6	16.1	15.6	9.4	9.5	11.8	9.8	11.6
Montana...................................................................................	92	94	125	102	107	134	122	115	134	136	144	116	127	134	127	113	127	97	133	155	139	153	140	13.6	12.3	16.1	13.2	13.1	17.0	15.1	13.8	16.0	16.5	18.0	14.6	15.6	16.3	15.4	13.7	14.9	11.5	15.3	17.0	15.6	16.6	15.6
Nebraska...................................................................................	188	163	171	199	221	216	241	213	235	220	191	164	204	167	157	169	169	146	159	169	163	211	180	13.1	10.7	11.1	13.0	14.0	13.6	15.3	13.3	14.8	13.6	11.9	10.3	12.8	10.3	9.5	10.3	10.3	8.8	9.6	10.2	9.8	12.3	10.9
Nevada...................................................................................	43	69	120	70	93	70	86	101	139	82	107	93	121	119	141	188	141	168	173	133	190	195	216	9.1	8.7	10.2	8.3	10.5	7.8	9.8	10.5	14.4	8.1	10.4	8.6	10.8	9.8	11.4	14.4	9.8	11.1	11.1	8.1	11.0	10.6	11.3
New Hampshire...................................................................................	65	75	69	63	70	97	76	68	59	37	51	73	84	68	81	99	112	87	60	73	109	119	96	9.1	8.5	6.4	7.0	7.6	10.3	8.1	7.1	6.0	3.7	4.8	6.7	7.7	6.3	7.3	8.6	9.9	7.7	5.3	6.4	9.1	9.8	7.7
New Jersey...................................................................................	574	689	573	659	736	896	814	758	631	679	626	475	622	711	754	771	866	730	617	726	737	693	631	8.1	9.5	7.6	9.0	10.0	12.2	10.9	10.1	8.3	8.9	8.3	6.2	8.2	9.2	9.7	10.0	10.9	9.2	7.8	9.2	9.3	8.6	7.8
New Mexico...................................................................................	227	226	306	268	243	303	335	280	267	306	280	343	297	319	349	327	282	356	457	472	387	371	371	22.8	17.6	20.6	20.6	18.6	22.4	24.2	19.5	18.5	21.3	19.4	23.0	19.5	20.9	22.4	21.0	17.4	21.1	25.3	25.5	21.2	20.4	20.7
New York...................................................................................	1,986	2,299	2,277	2,391	2,516	2,607	2,780	2,806	2,796	2,322	2,506	2,369	2,254	2,571	2,736	2,699	2,981	3,097	3,020	3,058	2,979	3,068	2,603	11.1	13.4	13	13.8	14.4	14.8	15.8	16.0	15.8	13.2	14.3	13.4	12.6	14.3	15.3	15.3	16.4	17.0	16.5	16.7	16.5	16.7	14.1
North Carolina...................................................................................	996	840	830	877	1,016	1,201	939	860	863	884	853	796	770	829	964	1,047	966	980	877	885	839	1,039	1,017	20.3	14.8	13	15.0	17.5	20.3	15.9	14.6	14.2	14.3	13.8	12.6	12.2	13.0	14.5	15.7	14.4	14.2	12.6	12.2	11.4	14.0	13.5
North Dakota...................................................................................	93	79	88	99	89	85	103	106	108	88	75	76	79	87	92	73	70	65	76	69	87	97	80	15.7	12.6	14.4	15.5	14.2	12.9	15.1	15.4	15.9	13.5	11.4	11.6	12.2	13.7	14.5	11.9	11.2	10.4	12.0	11.0	13.6	15.1	13.0
Ohio...................................................................................	1,041	1,089	1,326	1,046	1,369	1,366	1,447	1,429	1,359	1,372	1,375	1,356	1,143	1,256	1,488	1,381	1,461	1,571	1,285	1,424	1,231	1,253	1,347	10	10.3	12.5	9.8	12.7	12.8	13.6	13.5	12.8	12.8	12.7	12.4	10.6	11.5	13.4	12.4	13.0	14.1	11.5	12.7	11.0	11.2	12.0
Oklahoma...................................................................................	465	394	510	406	413	478	550	426	526	469	547	543	460	481	541	600	662	540	548	556	456	458	414	18.8	13.4	16.7	13.9	13.8	15.4	16.9	13.3	16.0	14.7	17.0	17.3	14.7	15.6	17.0	18.4	19.9	16.7	17.1	16.6	13.7	14.1	12.7
Oregon...................................................................................	235	274	345	309	331	354	427	331	317	332	384	285	327	267	401	340	363	373	360	382	382	503	427	11.5	10.7	12.4	11.5	12.3	13.9	16.4	12.8	11.9	12.3	14.2	10.4	11.2	9.2	13.5	11.3	11.8	11.8	11.2	11.8	11.6	15.0	12.6
Pennsylvania...................................................................................	1,228	1,210	1,284	1,142	1,367	1,572	1,808	1,825	1,217	1,190	1,249	1,246	1,261	1,328	1,340	1,426	1,598	1,496	1,464	1,374	1,337	1,338	1,101	10.6	10.5	11.1	9.8	11.6	13.5	15.5	15.6	10.5	10.1	10.6	10.3	10.4	11.0	11.0	11.7	13.2	12.5	12.2	11.6	11.2	11.3	9.4
Rhode Island...................................................................................	100	94	93	97	109	125	144	121	84	87	79	99	64	71	99	116	108	99	102	104	120	112	97	11	10.3	9.6	10.7	11.7	13.3	14.8	12.8	9.0	9.1	8.1	9.8	6.7	7.5	10.4	12.0	11.2	10.3	10.6	11.0	12.7	11.6	9.9
South Carolina...................................................................................	595	500	518	534	615	701	689	561	489	569	512	528	585	548	582	687	678	501	744	482	500	527	445	23.9	16.6	15.4	16.8	18.4	21.2	20.9	17.2	15.2	17.3	15.6	15.5	17.0	16.2	16.4	18.9	18.7	13.8	19.9	13.0	13.1	13.7	11.7
South Dakota...................................................................................	120	113	106	127	132	114	125	100	119	118	109	101	92	93	96	105	102	107	103	82	117	77	54	18.7	16.9	15.9	18.8	19.5	16.8	18.1	14.5	17.3	17.0	15.2	14.2	13.2	13.3	14.0	14.8	14.2	14.5	14.5	11.8	16.5	10.8	7.7
Tennessee...................................................................................	836	736	745	884	943	1,106	936	800	837	853	792	883	891	833	744	849	998	779	846	878	791	749	659	21.8	16.5	15.7	19.6	20.9	23.6	20.1	17.4	18.1	18.3	16.9	18.0	18.4	16.9	15.5	17.0	19.6	14.6	15.5	15.9	14.3	13.4	11.9
Texas...................................................................................	2,047	2,036	3,001	2,247	2,258	2,450	2,451	2,448	2,582	2,825	2,917	3,006	2,880	2,684	2,965	3,079	3,177	3,603	3,270	3,180	3,297	2,994	3,007	18.8	14.7	18.1	15.7	15.4	16.2	15.7	15.7	15.9	17.3	17.6	18.0	17.1	15.9	17.5	17.8	17.4	19.1	17.4	16.6	16.7	15.1	15.0
Utah...................................................................................	118	148	192	148	185	229	221	183	180	209	173	162	138	143	222	162	203	154	168	153	185	190	122	11.4	10.3	11.4	10.0	12.2	14.5	13.9	11.1	10.9	12.6	10.2	9.8	8.2	8.2	12.9	9.3	10.7	8.0	8.4	7.7	8.9	9.0	5.7
Vermont...................................................................................	52	59	53	62	66	67	83	65	48	58	50	43	44	61	73	63	59	45	61	74	54	58	58	12.1	12.1	9.9	12.0	12.3	12.9	15.6	12.6	9.2	11.0	9.3	8.1	8.0	10.9	12.6	10.4	10.0	7.6	10.3	12.6	9.3	9.9	9.7
Virginia...................................................................................	691	611	612	647	662	668	623	554	558	547	583	647	671	705	608	584	627	710	648	795	858	589	542	15.5	11.8	10.2	12.4	12.6	12.5	11.4	10.0	10.0	9.7	9.9	10.8	10.9	11.1	9.9	9.4	9.7	10.7	10.2	12.3	12.7	8.8	7.9
Washington...................................................................................	336	396	518	538	471	549	460	479	526	563	450	402	455	434	474	555	634	614	677	666	529	512	539	10.2	9.8	10.9	12.7	11.3	12.9	10.8	11.3	12.0	12.9	10.0	8.7	9.6	8.9	9.5	11.0	12.1	11.7	12.5	11.9	9.2	8.9	9.5
West Virginia...................................................................................	380	287	345	297	398	484	424	392	423	432	408	337	283	328	327	396	400	336	300	323	286	312	276	22.2	15	19.7	15.2	19.9	24.8	22.3	20.4	22.3	22.4	21.6	17.9	15.7	18.1	17.9	22.3	22.2	18.6	16.7	18.5	16.4	17.8	15.7
Wisconsin...................................................................................	421	398	509	403	384	452	503	730	544	501	428	364	393	448	492	551	636	453	449	460	422	449	461	9.8	8.7	10.7	8.5	8.1	9.5	10.6	15.5	11.6	10.7	9.0	7.8	8.4	9.3	9.9	10.8	12.6	9.0	8.5	8.8	8.2	8.8	8.6
Wyoming...................................................................................	38	36	52	49	43	58	62	53	61	73	49	43	50	51	47	49	64	45	59	58	66	51	56	11.7	7.9	11.9	10.4	8.9	12.0	12.7	10.9	12.0	14.6	10.8	9.6	10.9	11.0	9.9	10.3	13.3	9.3	12.2	11.9	13.5	10.6	11.6

1 Beginning 1987, data based on revised processing procedures and not directly comparable with prior years.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, P60-185. Current Population Reports, Poverty in the United States, P60-188, P60-189, P60-194, P60-198, P60-201, P60-207, P60-210 and earlier reports; and Internet site (accessed 17 May 2000). 1970 Census of Population, series PC(1)-C1,General Social and Economic Characteristics, table 182. 1980 Census of Population, series PC80-1-C1, General Social and Economic Characteristics", table 245. 1990 Census of Population, series CP-2-1, Social and Economic Characteristics", table 154.

http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty.html

* CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY (MARCH ANNUAL DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEY)

Approximately 62,500 housing units were eligible to receive the 1995 Annual Demographic Survey. The basic monthly CPS sample of 60,000 housing units was supplemented by 2,500 housing units which had at least one Hispanic member the previous November. In addition, members of the Armed Forces, which are excluded from the basic CPS labor force survey, were part of the elibigle population in March. Because of the CPS sample rotation system, approximately one-half of the sample had been interviewed the previous March.

Interviewers used lap-top computers to administer the interview, asking questions as they appear on the screen and directly entering the responses obtained. With the exception of first and the fifth month-in-sample interviews, when an interviewer usually visited the sample unit, over 90 percent of the interviews were conducted by telephone.

Completed interviews were electronically transmitted to a central processor where the responses were edited for consistency, imputations were made for missing data, and various codes were added. Based on the probability of selection, a weight was added to each supplement-responding household and person record so that estimates of the population by state, race, age, sex, and Hispanic origin matched the population projections made by the Bureau of the Census. Since not every person who provided labor force information completed the supplement and the supplement was asked of members of the Armed Forces, the supplement weights vary from those used for labor force estimation.

* DEFINITIONS

Poverty definition

Poverty statistics presented in this report are based on a definition developed by Mollie Orshansky of the Social Security Administration (SSA) in 1964 and revised in 1969 and 1981 by interagency committees. This definition was established as the official definition of poverty for statistical use in all Executive departments by the Bureau of the Budget (BoB) in 1969 (IN CIRCULAR NO. A-46); after BoB became Office of Management and Budget, this was reconfirmed in Statistical Policy Directive No. 14.

The original poverty index provided a range of income cutoffs or thresholds adjusted by such factors as family size, sex of the family head, number of children under 18 years old, and farm- nonfarm residence. At the core of this definition of poverty was the economy food plan, the least costly of four nutritionally adequate food plans designed by the Department of Agriculture. It was determined from the Department of Agriculture's 1955 Household Food Consumption Survey that families of three or more persons spent approximately one-third of their after-tax money income on food; accordingly, poverty thresholds for families of three or more persons were set at three times the cost of the economy food plan. Different procedures were used to calculate poverty thresholds for two-person families and persons living alone in order to compensate for the relatively larger fixed expenses of these smaller units. For two-person families, the cost of the economy food plan was multiplied by a factor of 3.7 (also derived from the 1955 survey). For unrelated individuals (one-person units), no multiplier was used; poverty thresholds were instead calculated as a fixed proportion of the corresponding thresholds for two-person units. Annual updates of these SSA poverty thresholds were based on price changes of the items in the economy food plan.

As a result of deliberations of a Federal interagency committee in 1969, the following two modifications to the original SSA definition of poverty were adopted: (1) the SSA thresholds for nonfarm families were retained for the base year 1963, but annual adjustments in the levels were based on changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rather than on changes in the cost of foods in the economy food plan; and (2) the farm thresholds were raised from 70 to 85 percent of the corresponding nonfarm levels. The combined impact of these two modifications resulted in an increase in the tabulated totals for 1967 of 360,000 poor families and 1.6 million poor persons.

In 1981 three additional modifications in the poverty definition recommended by another interagency committee were adopted for implementation in the March 1982 CPS as well as the 1980 census: (1) elimination of separate thresholds for farm families, (2) elimination (by averaging) of separate thresholds for female- householder families and "all other" families (earlier termed "male-headed" families) and (3) extension of the detailed poverty threshold matrix to make the largest family size category "nine persons or more." For further details, see the section, "Changes in the Definition of Poverty," in Current Population Reports, Series P-60, No. 133.

The poverty thresholds are increased each year by the same percentage as the annual average Consumer Price Index.

For further information on how the poverty thresholds were developed and subsequent changes in them, see Gordon M. Fisher, "The Development and History of the Poverty Thresholds," Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 55 No. 4, Winter 1992, pp. 3-14.

*

http://www.allcountries.org/uscensus/759_persons_below_poverty_level_by_state.html

These tables are based on figures supplied by the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce and are subject to revision by the Census Bureau.

Copyright © 2006 Photius Coutsoukis and Information Technology Associates, all rights reserved.