Persons Below Poverty Level in the U.S., 1975–2010

Updated August 5, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

The following table shows the number and percent of people in the United States living below the poverty level for the years 1975 to 2007. Data also includes the number and percent of people living below the poverty level by race: white, black, and of Hispanic origin.

(in thousands)

Year All
persons		 Percent White Percent Black Percent Hispanic
origin1		 Percent Asian and
Pac. Isl.		 Percent
1975 25,877 12.3% 17,770 9.7% 7,545 31.3% 2,991 26.9% n.a. n.a.
1976 24,975 11.8 16,713 9.1 7,595 31.1 2,783 24.7 n.a. n.a.
1977 24,720 11.6 16,416 8.9 7,726 31.3 2,700 22.4 n.a. n.a.
1978 24,497 11.4 16,259 8.7 7,625 30.6 2,607 21.6 n.a. n.a.
1979 26,072 11.7 17,214 9.0 8,050 31.0 2,921 21.8 n.a. n.a.
1980 29,272 13.0 19,699 10.2 8,579 32.5 3,491 25.7 n.a. n.a.
1981 31,822 14.0 21,553 11.1 9,173 34.2 3,713 26.5 n.a. n.a.
1982 34,398 15.0 23,517 12.0 9,697 35.6 4,301 29.9 n.a. n.a.
1983 35,303 15.2 23,984 12.1 9,882 35.7 4,633 28.0 n.a. n.a.
1984 33,700 14.4 22,955 11.5 9,490 33.8 4,806 28.4 n.a. n.a.
1985 33,064 14.0 22,860 11.4 8,926 31.3 5,236 29.0 n.a. n.a.
1986 32,370 13.6 22,183 11.0 8,983 31.1 5,117 27.3 n.a. n.a.
1987 32,221 13.4 21,195 10.4 9,520 32.4 5,422 28.0 1,021 16.1%
1988 31,745 13.0 20,715 10.1 9,356 31.3 5,357 26.7 1,117 17.3
1989 31,528 12.8 20,785 10.0 9,302 30.7 5,430 26.2 939 14.1
1990 33,585 13.5 22,326 10.7 9,837 31.9 6,006 28.1 858 12.2
1991 35,708 14.2 23,747 11.3 10,242 32.7 6,339 28.7 996 13.8
1992 38,014 14.8 25,259 11.9 10,827 33.4 7,592 29.6 985 12.7
1993 39,265 15.1 26,226 12.2 10,877 33.1 8,126 30.6 1,134 15.3
1994 38,059 14.5 25,379 11.7 10,196 30.6 8,416 30.7 974 14.6
1995 36,425 13.8 24,423 11.2 9,872 29.3 8,574 30.3 1,411 14.6
1996 36,529 13.7 24,650 11.2 9,694 28.4 8,697 29.4 1,454 14.5
1997 35,574 13.3 24,396 11.0 9,116 26.5 8,308 27.1 1,468 14.0
1998 34,476 12.7 23,454 10.5 9,091 26.1 8,070 25.6 1,360 12.5
1999 32,791 11.9 22,169 9.8 8,441 23.6 7,876 22.7 1,163 10.7
2000 31,581 11.3 21,645 9.5 7,982 22.5 7,747 21.5 1,226 10.8
2001 32,907 11.7 22,739 9.9 8,136 22.7 7,997 21.4 1,275 10.2
2002 34,570 12.1 23,466 10.2 8,602 24.1 8,555 21.8 1,1612 10.1
2003 35,861 12.5 24,272 10.5 8,781 24.4 9,051 22.5 1,401 11.8
2004 37,040 12.7 25,327 10.8 9,014 24.7 9,122 21.9 1,209 9.8
2005 36,950 12.6 24,8723 10.6 9,1684 24.9 9,368 21.8 1,402 11.1
2006 36,460 12.3 24,416 10.3 9,048 24.3 9,243 20.6 1,447 10.1
2007 37,276 12.5 25,120 10.5 9,237 24.5 9,890 21.5 1,467 10.2
2008 39,829 13.2 26,990 11.2 9,379 24.7 10,987 23.2 1,576 1.8
2009 43,569 14.3 29,830 12.3 9,944 25.8 12,350 25.3 1,746 12.5
2010 46,180 15.1 31,650 31.0 10,675 27.4 13,243 26.6 1,729 12.1
n.a. = not available.
1. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
2. For years 2002–2005, figures refer to people who reported Asian and did not report any other race category.
3. The 2003 Current Population Survey allowed respondents to choose more than one race. White alone refers to people who reported White and did not report any other race category.
4. Black alone refers to people who reported Black and did not report any other race.
5. Asian alone refers to people who reported Asian and did not report any other race.
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Web: www.census.gov .

Percent of People in Poverty, by State, 2002–2004 Poverty and Income Food Stamp Households, 2005
Poverty and Income
Sources +
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