2019 Poverty Rate Was 10.5%, 1.3 Percentage Points Lower Than 2018

The official poverty rate in 2019 was 10.5%, a decrease of 1.3 percentage points from 11.8% in 2018. The number of people in poverty in 2019 was 34.0 million, 4.2 million fewer people than 2018. This is the lowest rate observed since estimates were initially published for 1959. The 2019 poverty rate is the fifth consecutive annual decline in the national poverty rate: Since 2014, the poverty rate has fallen 4.3 percentage points.

In 2019, the median household income was $68,703: this is a 6.8% increase from the 2018 median. Between 2018 . . .