Creek Street, the historic promenade in Ketchikan, Alaska. Alaska did not have the highest level … [+]
Poverty in the United States presents a complex mosaic of challenges and disparities. As the latest census data reveals: Census Bureau 2022 American Community Survey — poverty rates continue to fluctuate across all 50 states, each grappling with its unique economic, social and demographic factors.
We analyzed data on poverty rates by state, looking back over the past decade to see how poverty levels have changed. Keep in mind that 10 years ago, in 2012, many U.S. housing markets finally hit bottom and – although the Great Recession technically ended in 2009, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) — the early 2010s were a terribly slow recovery period. So poverty rates in 2012 tend to be higher than today. However this is not always the case.
Read on to find out which U.S. states have the highest poverty rates and which have the lowest, along with more detailed results.
10 states with the lowest poverty rates
The 10 states with the lowest poverty rates are geographically a mix of the Northeast region of the United States and some states in the Midwest and West. The #1 state with the lowest poverty rate is New Hampshire, with only 7.2% of its population living below the poverty line. A decade ago, New Hampshire’s poverty rate was 10 percent, before dropping 28 percent to its current level of 7.2 percent. The state with the second lowest poverty rate is Utah, with only 8.2% of its population living below the poverty line.
The decline in Utah’s poverty rate over 10 years – a decrease of nearly 36%, from 12.8% in 2012 to 8.2% in 2022 – is the largest decline of all 50 states. On the other hand, Maryland, which is tied for fourth lowest poverty rate, experienced one of the smallest declines in its poverty level over the past decade. Maryland’s poverty rate decreased by only 6.8%, from 10.3% in 2012 to 9.6% in 2022.
Five states have seen a decline of 30% or more in their poverty rates over the past 10 years:
- Change in Utah Poverty Rate 2012-2022: -35.9% | 12.8% to 8.2%
- Evolution of the poverty rate in Georgia 2012-2022: -33.9% | 19.2% to 12.7%
- Change in poverty rate in Arizona 2012-2022: -33.2% | 18.7% to 12.5%
- Change in Idaho Poverty Rate 2012-2022: -32.7% | 15.9% to 10.7%
- Change in Colorado Poverty Rate 2012-2022: -31.4% | 13.7% to 9.4%
10 states with the highest poverty rates
Now let’s move on to the other end of the spectrum. The 10 states with the highest poverty rates are geographically made up of the Southern states and a few exceptions, such as New Mexico and New York. In the state with the highest level of poverty – Mississippi – almost a fifth of the population (19.1%) lived below the poverty line in 2022, still an improvement over the poverty rate of 21.5% in 2017.
A few states with the highest poverty rates have also seen either a slow decline since 2012 or, in the case of West Virginia, for example, an outright increase in poverty. For example, in Louisiana, which has the second highest poverty rate at 18.6%, between 2012 and 2022, the state saw only a 6.5% decrease in its poverty level: from 19, 9% in 2012 to 18.6% in 2022. Oklahoma, which has the ninth highest poverty rate, saw its level decrease by only 8.7% over the past 10 years, from 17.2 % to 15.7%.
Poverty rate by state in 2023
Below is a table detailing poverty rates in the 50 states plus DC, with data going back 10 years.
In only 3 out of 50 states did poverty rates increase in the 10 years from 2012 to 2022. Among these states is Alaska, where the percentage living below the poverty line increased by 8.9%: from 10.1% in 2012 to 11% in 2012. 2022. North Dakota was the second state, although its change was only from 11.2% in 2012 to 11.5% in 2022. The third state – West Virginia – also saw a slight increase, from 17.8% in 2012 to 17.9% in 2022.
Poverty rates by state: seniors
On the surface, economic conditions look pretty good, with 47 states plus DC all experiencing declines in their respective poverty levels between 2012 and 2022. But this general bird’s-eye view hides many critical trends and nuances.
As mentioned above, only 3 out of 50 states have seen poverty rates increase since 2012. However, what this seemingly positive news hides is an inexorable increase in poverty levels among people 65 and older. In only 4 out of 50 states has the percentage of people 65 and older living below the poverty line declined.
The poverty rates for people aged 65 and over and, more importantly, their growth over the past ten years are startling. In Alaska, the percentage of people aged 65 and over living below the poverty line has increased from a modest 4.4% in 2012 to more than 1 in 10 in 2022 (10.2%). This represents an increase of 131.8% over the past decade. Wyoming also saw a doubling of its poverty rate among seniors: from 4.8 percent in 2012, the share of people ages 65 and older living in poverty increased 104.2 percent, to 9 .8% in 2022.
Interestingly, the District of Columbia is home to the highest poverty rate among people ages 65 and older, with 15.9% living below the poverty line in 2022. This figure is up more than a third (33.6%) since its poverty rate in 2012, when it was 11.9%. Louisiana comes in second, with 14.8% of people 65 and older living below the poverty line in 2022, up from 12.6% in 2012.