Money

Visualizing the Poverty Rate of Each U.S. State

Published

5 years ago

November 25, 2018

Jeff Desjardins

Visualizing the Poverty Rate of Each U.S. State

How many people live below the poverty line in states across the country?

Today’s interactive map comes to us from Overflow Solutions, and it visualizes the percentage of people living in poverty across the United States over the time period of 2008-2017.

U.S. Poverty Rates Today

To start, we’ll look at the situation using the most recent data, which was pulled from the American Community Survey (2017) done by the U.S. Census Bureau.

For additional context, it is worth noting that the national poverty level is estimated to sit at 13.4%.

Here are the five states with the highest levels of poverty today:

Rank	State	Poverty Rate (2017)
#1	Mississippi	19.8%
#2	Louisiana	19.7%
#3	New Mexico	19.7%
#4	West Virginia	19.1%
#5	Kentucky	17.2%

In three southern states, Mississippi, Louisiana, and New Mexico, nearly 20% of the population lives below the poverty line. Two Appalachian states round out the top five: West Virginia (19.1%) and Kentucky (17.2%).

On the flipside, here are the five states with the lowest levels of poverty:

Rank	State	Poverty Rate (2017)
#47	Connecticut	9.6%
#48 (t)	Minnesota	9.5%
#48 (t)	Hawaii	9.5%
#50	Maryland	9.3%
#51	New Hampshire	7.7%

New Hampshire (7.7%) has the lowest poverty rate by a long shot – about 1.6% lower than its closest competitor, which is the state of Maryland (9.3%).

Poverty Rates Over Time

While the data from 2017 provides an interesting snapshot, perhaps it is more insightful to look at the trend over time. In other words, are poverty rates increasing or decreasing?

Below is a comparison of state averages in 2008 (pre-crisis), 2012 (recent peak), and 2017:

	2008	2012	2017
Avg. state poverty rate	10.1%	15.2%	13.1%

Since the recent peak in 2012, poverty has decreased by an average of 2.1% per state – in fact, over the 2012-2017 time period, there were only three states that did not see a reduction in poverty levels: Alaska, Delaware, and West Virginia.

Using the longer time window, however, you’ll see that poverty rates have actually risen by 3.0% on average since 2008. Today, not a single state has a lower poverty rate than it did in 2008.

State Poverty Rates (All)

Finally, here’s a full state table that is sortable and searchable, showing poverty levels in 2008, 2012, and 2017, for your convenience:

	2008	2012	2017
Alabama	13.1%	19.0%	16.9%
Alaska	6.1%	10.1%	11.1%
Arizona	12.6%	18.7%	14.9%
Arkansas	14.6%	19.8%	16.4%
California	11.2%	17.0%	13.3%
Colorado	9.0%	13.7%	10.3%
Connecticut	7.0%	10.7%	9.6%
Delaware	7.6%	12.0%	13.6%
District of Columbia	15.4%	18.2%	16.6%
Florida	10.7%	17.1%	14.0%
Georgia	12.4%	19.2%	14.9%
Hawaii	5.8%	11.6%	9.5%
Idaho	9.9%	15.9%	12.8%
Illinois	10.0%	14.7%	12.6%
Indiana	10.6%	15.6%	13.5%
Iowa	7.9%	12.7%	10.7%
Kansas	8.4%	14.0%	11.9%
Kentucky	14.4%	19.4%	17.2%
Louisiana	14.8%	19.9%	19.7%
Maine	8.7%	14.7%	11.1%
Maryland	5.7%	10.3%	9.3%
Massachusetts	7.0%	11.9%	10.5%
Michigan	11.5%	17.4%	14.2%
Minnesota	6.5%	11.4%	9.5%
Mississippi	19.0%	24.2%	19.8%
Missouri	10.6%	16.2%	13.4%
Montana	11.5%	15.5%	12.5%
Nebraska	7.6%	13.0%	10.8%
Nevada	9.0%	16.4%	13.0%
New Hampshire	4.9%	10.0%	7.7%
New Jersey	6.7%	10.8%	10.0%
New Mexico	14.7%	20.8%	19.7%
New York	11.1%	15.9%	14.1%
North Carolina	12.0%	18.0%	14.7%
North Dakota	8.6%	11.2%	10.3%
Ohio	10.5%	16.3%	14.0%
Oklahoma	13.2%	17.2%	15.8%
Oregon	10.5%	17.2%	13.2%
Pennsylvania	9.2%	13.7%	12.5%
Rhode Island	8.3%	13.7%	11.6%
South Carolina	13.0%	18.3%	15.4%
South Dakota	9.7%	13.4%	13.0%
Tennessee	12.9%	17.9%	15.0%
Texas	14.1%	17.9%	14.7%
Utah	6.9%	12.8%	9.7%
Vermont	6.5%	11.8%	11.3%
Virginia	7.9%	11.7%	10.6%
Washington	8.4%	13.5%	11.0%
West Virginia	13.1%	17.8%	19.1%
Wisconsin	7.3%	13.2%	11.3%
Wyoming	6.1%	12.6%	11.3%

Related Topics:wealth united states state economy poverty

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Money

Charted: Who Has Savings in This Economy?

Older, better-educated adults are winning the savings game, reveals a January survey by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

Published

14 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Pallavi Rao

A cropped chart visualizing the percentage of respondents to the statement “I have money leftover at the end of the month” categorized by sentiment, age, and education qualifications.

Who Has Savings in This Economy?

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Two full years of inflation have taken their toll on American households. In 2023, the country’s collective credit card debt crossed $1 trillion for the first time. So who is managing to save money in the current economic environment?

We visualize the percentage of respondents to the statement “I have money leftover at the end of the month” categorized by age and education qualifications. Data is sourced from a National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) report, published last month.

The survey for NEFE was conducted from January 12-14, 2024, by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. It involved 1,222 adults aged 18+ and aimed to be representative of the U.S. population.

Older Americans Save More Than Their Younger Counterparts

General trends from this dataset indicate that as respondents get older, a higher percentage of them are able to save.

Age	Always/Often	Sometimes	Rarely/Never
18–29	29%	33%	38%
30–44	36%	27%	37%
45–59	39%	23%	38%
Above 60	49%	28%	23%
All Adults	39%	33%	27%

Note: Percentages are rounded and may not sum to 100.

Perhaps not surprisingly, those aged 60+ are the age group with the highest percentage saying they have leftover money at the end of the month. This age group spent the most time making peak earnings in their careers, are more likely to have investments, and are more likely to have paid off major expenses like a mortgage or raising a family.

The Impact of Higher Education on Earnings and Savings

Based on this survey, higher education dramatically improves one’s ability to save. Shown in the table below, those with a bachelor’s degree or higher are three times more likely to have leftover money than those without a high school diploma.

Education	Always/Often	Sometimes	Rarely/Never
No HS Diploma	18%	26%	56%
HS Diploma	28%	33%	39%
Associate Degree	33%	31%	36%
Bachelor/Higher Degree	59%	21%	20%
All Adults	39%	33%	27%

Note: Percentages are rounded and may not sum to 100.

As the Bureau of Labor Statistics notes, earnings improve with every level of education completed.

For example, those with a high school diploma made 25% more than those without in 2022. And as the qualifications increase, the effects keep stacking.

Meanwhile, a Federal Reserve study also found that those with more education tended to make financial decisions that contributed to building wealth, of which the first step is to save.