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Visualizing the Poverty Rate of Each U.S. State

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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:

RankStatePoverty Rate (2017)
#1Mississippi19.8%
#2Louisiana19.7%
#3New Mexico19.7%
#4West Virginia19.1%
#5Kentucky17.2%

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:

RankStatePoverty Rate (2017)
#47Connecticut9.6%
#48 (t)Minnesota9.5%
#48 (t)Hawaii9.5%
#50Maryland9.3%
#51New Hampshire7.7%

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:

200820122017
Avg. state poverty rate10.1%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:

200820122017
Alabama13.1%19.0%16.9%
Alaska6.1%10.1%11.1%
Arizona12.6%18.7%14.9%
Arkansas14.6%19.8%16.4%
California11.2%17.0%13.3%
Colorado9.0%13.7%10.3%
Connecticut7.0%10.7%9.6%
Delaware7.6%12.0%13.6%
District of Columbia15.4%18.2%16.6%
Florida10.7%17.1%14.0%
Georgia12.4%19.2%14.9%
Hawaii5.8%11.6%9.5%
Idaho9.9%15.9%12.8%
Illinois10.0%14.7%12.6%
Indiana10.6%15.6%13.5%
Iowa7.9%12.7%10.7%
Kansas8.4%14.0%11.9%
Kentucky14.4%19.4%17.2%
Louisiana14.8%19.9%19.7%
Maine8.7%14.7%11.1%
Maryland5.7%10.3%9.3%
Massachusetts7.0%11.9%10.5%
Michigan11.5%17.4%14.2%
Minnesota6.5%11.4%9.5%
Mississippi19.0%24.2%19.8%
Missouri10.6%16.2%13.4%
Montana11.5%15.5%12.5%
Nebraska7.6%13.0%10.8%
Nevada9.0%16.4%13.0%
New Hampshire4.9%10.0%7.7%
New Jersey6.7%10.8%10.0%
New Mexico14.7%20.8%19.7%
New York11.1%15.9%14.1%
North Carolina12.0%18.0%14.7%
North Dakota8.6%11.2%10.3%
Ohio10.5%16.3%14.0%
Oklahoma13.2%17.2%15.8%
Oregon10.5%17.2%13.2%
Pennsylvania9.2%13.7%12.5%
Rhode Island8.3%13.7%11.6%
South Carolina13.0%18.3%15.4%
South Dakota9.7%13.4%13.0%
Tennessee12.9%17.9%15.0%
Texas14.1%17.9%14.7%
Utah6.9%12.8%9.7%
Vermont6.5%11.8%11.3%
Virginia7.9%11.7%10.6%
Washington8.4%13.5%11.0%
West Virginia13.1%17.8%19.1%
Wisconsin7.3%13.2%11.3%
Wyoming6.1%12.6%11.3%
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Money

Visualizing All of the U.S. Currency in Circulation

This graphic illustrates the amount of U.S. currency in circulation globally, by denomination, based on data from the Federal Reserve.

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Visualizing All of the U.S. Currency in Circulation

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.

Have you ever wondered how much U.S. currency is in circulation?

Every year, the U.S. Federal Reserve submits a print order for U.S. currency to the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). The BEP will then print billions of notes in various denominations, from $1 bills to $100 bills.

In this graphic, we’ve used the latest Federal Reserve data to visualize the approximate number of bills for each denomination globally, as of Dec. 31, 2022.

Breakdown of U.S. Currency in Circulation

The following table lists all of the data we used to create the visualization above. Note that value figures were rounded for simplicity.

Type of BillNumber of notes
in circulation (billions)
Value ($B)
$114.3$14B
$21.5$3B
$53.5$18B
$102.3$23B
$2011.5$230B
$502.5$125B
$10018.5$1,850B
$500-10,000*0.0004n/a

*$500-10,000 bills are listed as a range, and a total circulation of 0.0004 billion. Not included in graphic.

From these numbers, we can see that $100 bills are the most common bill in circulation, even ahead of $1 bills.

One reason for this is $100 bills have a longer lifespan than smaller denominations, due to people using $100 bills less often for transactions. Some businesses may also decline $100 bills as payment.

Based on 2018 estimates from the Federal Reserve, a $100 bill has a lifespan of over 20 years, which is significantly higher than $1 bills (7 years) and $5 bills (5 years).

If you’re interested in more visualizations on the U.S. dollar, consider this animated chart which shows how the dollar overtook the British pound as the world’s most prominent reserve currency.

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