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Why This Indicator Matters
Poverty elevates a child’s risk of experiencing behavioral, social and emotional and health challenges. Child poverty also reduces skill-building opportunities and academic outcomes, undercutting a young student’s capacity to learn, graduate high school and more.
What is the rate of child poverty in the U.S.?
Currently, 16% of all children in the United States — 11.4 million kids total — are living in poverty. A family of four with annual earnings below $30,900 is considered poor. In the last decade, the percentage of U.S. children in poverty peaked at 23% in 2012, and fell to 16% 2023.
This indicator is included in the KIDS COUNT Index. Read the KIDS COUNT Data Book to learn more about child poverty levels.
Definition and Source
PROVIDER
Definition
The federal poverty definition consists of a series of thresholds based on family size and composition. In 2023, the poverty threshold for a family of two adults and two children was $30,900. Poverty status is not determined for people in military barracks, institutional quarters, or for unrelated individuals under age 15 (such as foster children).
Data Source
Notes
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 are 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% confidence interval for each estimate can be found at
Children in poverty.Last Updated