List of U.S. states and territories by poverty rate

This list of U.S. states and territories by poverty rate covers the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the territory of Puerto Rico. Referenced data for the four other inhabited U.S. territories (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) has not been found so far. The data source for the main list is the American Community Survey done by the U.S. Census Bureau. The American Community Survey is a large demographic survey collected throughout the year using mailed questionnaires, telephone interviews, and visits from Census Bureau field representatives to about 3.5 million household addresses annually, regardless of their legal immigration status. Overall, out of Americans for whom the Census Bureau was able to determine poverty status, 40.8 million lived below the poverty line in 2023 (or 12.5% of the total population). See the table below for the highest poverty rates by state.