Poverty in the United States in 2024

The federal government publishes poverty statistics using two measures: the official poverty measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). These two measures tell different stories about who is poor in the United States because they measure different things. Both measures compare the income of a family or unrelated individual with a measure of need for that same family or individual. If the income (measured in dollars) is less than the measure of need (also measured in dollars), the family or unrelated individual is considered to be in poverty; if the income is greater than or equal to the measure of need, the family or individual is classified as not being in poverty. The measures differ as to what is counted as income or included in the measure of need; the SPM generally incorporates a broader conception of family unit, need, and income. For the official measure in 2024, the poverty rate—the percentage of people in poverty—fell to 10.6%, representing 35.9 million people in the United States who lived in poverty, down from 11.1% in 2023. Under the SPM, the poverty rate registered no change from the previous year, at 12.9%. The SPM principally differs from the official poverty measure in that the SPM takes account of taxes, work expenses, and noncash resources in ways the official measure does not. The SPM poverty rate reflects the cost of housing (which is included in the SPM’s computation of basic needs), the amounts received among certain noncash benefits and refundable tax credits, and work-related expenses that partially offset the incomes gained as more persons worked.