Where Are the Poor in America? States Ranked by Poverty

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Where Are the Poor in America? States Ranked by Poverty

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Key Takeaways

Naturally, the largest states (California, Texas, Florida, New York) will have the most number of Americans who are struggling.
But Americans in some states are clearly struggling more.
For example, North Carolina is 9th by overall population but 5th by Americans in poverty (1.4 million). Its poverty rate is 13.2%.

America loves to tally its billionaires and track the S&P’s every tick, but the millions struggling to cover rent or stock the fridge rarely make the headline scroll.

Poverty is the country’s most persistent invisibility cloak, present in every zip code, yet ignored in a culture that equates success with worth.

In this chart we break down where the poor in America actually live, ranked by each state.

Data for this visualization is sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau.

It averages three years of Current Population Survey results (2021-2023) to estimate how many residents in each state live below the federal poverty line.

Read the last section for more information on their methodology.

Ranked: U.S. States by Residents in Poverty

Four populous states—California, Texas, Florida, and New York—account for 13.5 million low-income residents, or more than one-third of all Americans in poverty.

California alone has 4.5 million people struggling to make ends meet, roughly the population of metropolitan Phoenix.

Rank	State	# in Poverty (Thousands, Sortable)	# in Poverty (Readable)	Share of All Americans in Poverty
1	California	4,521	4.5M	12.0
2	Texas	3,910	3.9M	10.4
3	Florida	2,782	2.8M	7.4
4	New York	2,349	2.3M	6.2
5	North Carolina	1,416	1.4M	3.8
6	Georgia	1,400	1.4M	3.7
7	Pennsylvania	1,351	1.4M	3.6
8	Ohio	1,272	1.3M	3.4
9	Illinois	1,245	1.2M	3.3
10	Michigan	1,186	1.2M	3.2
11	Arizona	903	903K	2.4
12	Louisiana	853	853K	2.3
13	Virginia	783	783K	2.1
14	New Jersey	776	776K	2.1
15	Tennessee	744	744K	2.0
16	Alabama	727	727K	1.9
17	Kentucky	699	699K	1.9
18	Missouri	675	675K	1.8
19	South Carolina	673	673K	1.8
20	Indiana	659	659K	1.8
21	Washington	658	658K	1.7
22	Massachusetts	604	604K	1.6
23	Oklahoma	589	589K	1.6
24	Maryland	524	524K	1.4
25	Mississippi	501	501K	1.3
26	Wisconsin	490	490K	1.3
27	Arkansas	473	473K	1.3
28	Colorado	473	473K	1.3
29	Oregon	415	415K	1.1
30	Minnesota	409	409K	1.1
31	Nevada	409	409K	1.1
32	New Mexico	388	388K	1.0
33	Connecticut	318	318K	0.8
34	Iowa	287	287K	0.8
35	West Virginia	268	268K	0.7
36	Kansas	255	255K	0.7
37	Utah	226	226K	0.6
38	Idaho	172	172K	0.5
39	Nebraska	165	165K	0.4
40	Hawaii	133	133K	0.4
41	Maine	120	120K	0.3
42	Montana	109	109K	0.3
43	Delaware	98	98K	0.3
44	New Hampshire	98	98K	0.3
45	Rhode Island	96	96K	0.3
46	District of Columbia	88	88K	0.2
47	Alaska	74	74K	0.2
48	South Dakota	74	74K	0.2
49	North Dakota	72	72K	0.2
50	Vermont	49	49K	0.1
51	Wyoming	49	49K	0.1
N/A	U.S.	37,610	37.6M	N/A

While the Golden State’s higher cost of living may impact this figure, it also underscores how expensive housing can compound economic hardship, even in high-income states.

Fact: People in California have the lowest purchasing power in the country.

Poverty Rates vs. Absolute Numbers

A fair criticism of this visualization is that it doesn’t account for population.

We previously mapped out poverty rates by state in the country to help cover this angle. The table below has the relevant figures.

Rank	State	State Code	Share of Population in Poverty	# in Poverty
1	Louisiana	LA	18.9%	853K
2	New Mexico	NM	18.5%	388K
3	Mississippi	MS	17.3%	501K
4	Arkansas	AR	15.8%	473K
5	Kentucky	KY	15.7%	699K
6	West Virginia	WV	15.3%	268K
7	Oklahoma	OK	14.9%	589K
8	Alabama	AL	14.6%	727K
9	District of Columbia	DC	13.4%	88K
10	North Carolina	NC	13.2%	1.4M
11	Texas	TX	13.1%	3.9M
12	Georgia	GA	12.9%	1.4M
13	Nevada	NV	12.9%	409K
14	South Carolina	SC	12.7%	673K
15	Florida	FL	12.5%	2.8M
16	Arizona	AZ	12.4%	903K
17	New York	NY	12.1%	2.3M
18	Michigan	MI	11.9%	1.2M
19	California	CA	11.7%	4.5M
20	Missouri	MO	11.1%	675K
21	Ohio	OH	10.9%	1.3M
22	Pennsylvania	PA	10.7%	1.4M
23	Tennessee	TN	10.6%	744K
24	Alaska	AK	10.4%	74K
25	Illinois	IL	10%	1.2M
26	Oregon	OR	9.8%	415K
27	Indiana	IN	9.7%	659K
28	Montana	MT	9.7%	109K
29	Delaware	DE	9.6%	98K
30	Hawaii	HI	9.3%	133K
31	North Dakota	ND	9.3%	72K
32	Virginia	VA	9.2%	783K
33	Iowa	IA	9%	287K
34	Idaho	ID	8.9%	172K
35	Kansas	KS	8.9%	255K
36	Rhode Island	RI	8.9%	96K
37	Connecticut	CT	8.8%	318K
38	Massachusetts	MA	8.8%	604K
39	Maine	ME	8.7%	120K
40	Wyoming	WY	8.6%	49K
41	Maryland	MD	8.5%	524K
42	Washington	WA	8.5%	658K
43	Nebraska	NE	8.4%	165K
44	New Jersey	NJ	8.4%	776K
45	Wisconsin	WI	8.4%	490K
46	South Dakota	SD	8.3%	74K
47	Colorado	CO	8.2%	473K
48	Vermont	VT	7.7%	49K
49	Minnesota	MN	7.2%	409K
50	New Hampshire	NH	7.1%	98K
51	Utah	UT	6.7%	226K
N/A	U.S.	US	11.4%	37.6M

In fact, California’s poverty rate is 12%, solidly middle of the pack.

But its 4.6 million poor residents are larger than the entire state of Oklahoma.

By contrast, Mississippi’s headline-grabbing 17% rate represents about 500,000 people.

Thus, a national food-assistance program needs almost nine times the meal budget for California, even though Mississippi is poorer than California.

Even within similar rate bands, scale varies wildly: Louisiana (18.9%) has 853,000 million people in poverty, compared with 388,000 in New Mexico (18.5%).

Thus, absolute numbers are also necessary to flag where to park mobile clinics, expand SNAP distribution sites, and hire caseworkers.

Fact: New Mexico also has the highest share of households on income or food support.

How Poverty is Measured in America

The way the Census Bureau calculates this line is important and can impact the data.

They use pretax household income against a threshold at three times the cost of a minimum food diet from 1963, adjusted for family size and inflation.

For reference, this is a quick guide on how much a household needs to be earning to be considered below the poverty line in 2023.

One person: ≤$15,480
Two people: ≤$19,680
Three people: ≤$24,230
Four people: ≤$31,200

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out What is Costs to Buy a Home in America on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.