Change Indicator

Population in poverty in California

Population in poverty

Why This Indicator Matters

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Definition and Source

PROVIDER

Definition

The share of all people who live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level.

The federal poverty definition consists of a series of thresholds based on family size and composition. In 2021, the poverty threshold for a family of two adults and two children was $27,479. Poverty status is not determined for people in military barracks, institutional quarters, or for unrelated individuals under age 15 (such as foster children). The data are based on income received in the 12 months prior to the survey.

Data Source

Population Reference Bureau, analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Supplementary Survey, 2001 Supplementary Survey, 2002 through 2019, 2021 American Community Survey.

These were derived from ACS table B17001.

Notes

Updated September 2022.
S - Estimates suppressed when the confidence interval around the percentage is greater than or equal to 10 percentage points.
N.A. – Data not available.
Data are provided for the 50 most populous cities according to the most recent Census counts. Cities for which data is collected may change over time. 
Use caution when comparing congressional districts over time. Congressional district boundaries may change between decennial censuses. Annual data for each congressional district refers to the boundaries for that district in that year.
A 90 percent confidence interval for each estimate can be found at Population in poverty.

Last Updated

September 2022