Poverty

• To inform the public about the number and percent of people living poverty.
• To study trends in the percentage of people living in poverty.
• For program planning and evaluation by state and local partners.

• The U.S. Census Bureau defines "poverty" by comparing a family's annual household income to a set of federal poverty thresholds. The federal poverty thresholds are calculated using a family's household size and composition. If a household income is less than their poverty threshold, then every person living in that household is considered to be living in poverty. To learn more, go to the U.S. Census Bureau's poverty webpage.
• The official poverty threshold for a two adult, two child family in the U.S. was $32,649 in 2024. For other years, view all the U.S. Census Bureau's poverty thresholds. The Census Bureau adjusts the poverty thresholds each year according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), which estimates prices paid for goods and services and is produced by the U.S. Department of Labor.

• Assessing the confidence interval for the percent or rate is one approach to determine whether there are differences over time. If they do not 'overlap' then they 'differ.' Although it is not a 'true' statistical test, it is a commonly accepted way to compare percentages or rates and tends to be more conservative than statistical testing.
• A confidence interval for a rate is a measure of reliability. In this analysis, 90% confidence intervals were calculated. A 90% confidence interval is the interval within which the true value of the rate would be expected to fall 90 times out of 100.
• Unless otherwise noted, differences between groups described on these poverty & income pages are statistically significant. A difference, increase, or decrease is indicated as "statistically significant" when the 90% confidence intervals for percentages do not overlap. There are no confidence intervals available for the measure of median household income.

• American Community Survey estimates are based on a sample of the population and not a full count of every person like the census. However, American Community Survey estimates are typically more current than the most recent decennial census (e.g., 2010 U.S. Census).
• Sometimes, American Community Survey estimates need to be aggregated across 5 years, in order to have a large enough sample size (number of people) to examine differences by variables like county or race and ethnicity.
• There are some disadvantages to the official poverty measure (the Census Bureau's poverty threshold) used to identify people living in poverty:
  • It does not reflect non-cash governmental benefit (such as housing subsidies, home energy assistance, or the "SNAP" food stamp program).
  • It does not include some expenses such as child support payments, transportation, or other work-related expenses necessary to hold a job.
  • It does not adjust for geographic differences in prices across the nation or variation in medical costs depending on insurance coverage.

To learn more about poverty measures, go to the American Community Survey or contact the MN Data Access Portal.