More than 60% of Americans will spend at least a year of their lives in poverty, according to a recent analysis conducted at Washington University. Since COVID-19 reached the United States in early 2020, the financial situation of millions of Americans has deteriorated, even as the nation’s wealthiest saw their fortunes increase by billions of dollars.
Over a year has passed, and many Americans still face an unstable job situation or ongoing unemployment and often also owe months of back rent. In a recent survey by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 27% of Americans surveyed said that it was somewhat difficult or very difficult to afford their usual expenses.
Based on five-year figures ending in 2019, the most recent year of available data, 13.4% of Americans live below the federal poverty line, but poverty is not distributed evenly across the country, and in a number of American cities the poverty rate is less than half this.
To determine the city with the lowest poverty rate in every state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed five-year estimates of the percentage of people who live below the poverty line from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey. For reference, the U.S. Department of Health and Human services sets the official poverty threshold at an annual income of no more than approximately $26,000 for a family of four. It should be noted that Vermont has only one city that meets the population requirements, and so Burlington is the city with the lowest poverty rate in the state by default.
Places with a relative absence of poverty can be found all across the country, but when only looking at places with a population of at least 25,000, in some states even the least impoverished city has a higher poverty rate than the nation. In Delaware, the qualifying city with the lowest poverty rate in the state is Newark, which has a poverty rate of 23.6% — well above the national poverty rate.
Click here to see the city where the fewest people live below the poverty line in every state.
Alabama: Vestavia Hills
> Poverty rate: 3.9% (Alabama: 16.7%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 1,342 (Alabama: 795,989)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 2.1% (Alabama: 14.0%)
> Median household income: $109,485 (Alabama: $50,536)
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Source: dbvirago / iStock via Getty Images
Alaska: Juneau
> Poverty rate: 7.7% (Alaska: 10.7%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 2,440 (Alaska: 76,933)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 8.2% (Alaska: 10.5%)
> Median household income: $88,390 (Alaska: $77,640)
Arizona: Queen Creek
> Poverty rate: 4.7% (Arizona: 15.1%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 2,023 (Arizona: 1,043,764)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 2.5% (Arizona: 11.1%)
> Median household income: $105,729 (Arizona: $58,945)
Arkansas: Bella Vista
> Poverty rate: 4.3% (Arkansas: 17.0%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 1,219 (Arkansas: 496,260)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 2.1% (Arkansas: 12.1%)
> Median household income: $67,550 (Arkansas: $47,597)
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Source: NNehring / iStock via Getty Images
California: Los Altos
> Poverty rate: 2.8% (California: 13.4%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 856 (California: 5,149,742)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 0.6% (California: 8.9%)
> Median household income: $235,278 (California: $75,235)
Source: Kevin Ekmark / Flickr
Colorado: Highlands Ranch
> Poverty rate: 2.9% (Colorado: 10.3%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 3,019 (Colorado: 565,873)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 1.2% (Colorado: 7.5%)
> Median household income: $125,454 (Colorado: $72,331)
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Connecticut: Trumbull
> Poverty rate: 2.7% (Connecticut: 9.9%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 969 (Connecticut: 344,146)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 4.0% (Connecticut: 11.9%)
> Median household income: $122,451 (Connecticut: $78,444)
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Source: aimintang / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
Delaware: Newark
> Poverty rate: 23.6% (Delaware: 11.8%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 6,244 (Delaware: 109,400)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 4.4% (Delaware: 10.9%)
> Median household income: $58,434 (Delaware: $68,287)
Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/walterpro/
Florida: Keystone
> Poverty rate: 3.0% (Florida: 14.0%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 755 (Florida: 2,870,487)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 1.0% (Florida: 13.6%)
> Median household income: $116,626 (Florida: $55,660)
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Source: Thomson200 / Wikimedia Commons
Georgia: Johns Creek
> Poverty rate: 3.9% (Georgia: 15.1%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 3,265 (Georgia: 1,528,558)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 2.8% (Georgia: 12.8%)
> Median household income: $122,514 (Georgia: $58,700)
Source: JMKnewLife / Getty Images
Hawaii: East Honolulu
> Poverty rate: 3.3% (Hawaii: 9.4%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 1,583 (Hawaii: 130,649)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 1.9% (Hawaii: 10.8%)
> Median household income: $133,165 (Hawaii: $81,275)
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Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dangregson/
Idaho: Eagle
> Poverty rate: 5.0% (Idaho: 13.1%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 1,312 (Idaho: 221,256)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 3.4% (Idaho: 9.8%)
> Median household income: $92,807 (Idaho: $55,785)
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Illinois: Plainfield
> Poverty rate: 2.4% (Illinois: 12.5%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 1,036 (Illinois: 1,557,873)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 3.2% (Illinois: 12.8%)
> Median household income: $130,614 (Illinois: $65,886)
Source: Justin Davis / Getty Images
Indiana: Fishers
> Poverty rate: 2.9% (Indiana: 13.4%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 2,655 (Indiana: 867,996)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 1.3% (Indiana: 9.8%)
> Median household income: $109,454 (Indiana: $56,303)
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Source: Larry_Reynolds / iStock via Getty Images
Iowa: Ankeny
> Poverty rate: 5.3% (Iowa: 11.5%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 3,267 (Iowa: 348,122)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 4.7% (Iowa: 10.2%)
> Median household income: $86,486 (Iowa: $60,523)
Source: TriggerPhoto / iStock via Getty Images
Kansas: Overland Park
> Poverty rate: 4.9% (Kansas: 12.0%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 9,244 (Kansas: 337,739)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 2.3% (Kansas: 7.5%)
> Median household income: $86,487 (Kansas: $59,597)
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Source: Courtesy of The City of Independence, Kentucky via Facebook
Kentucky: Independence
> Poverty rate: 5.6% (Kentucky: 17.3%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 1,536 (Kentucky: 747,010)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 4.7% (Kentucky: 14.0%)
> Median household income: $81,657 (Kentucky: $50,589)
Source: BOB WESTON / Getty Images
Louisiana: Prairieville
> Poverty rate: 5.1% (Louisiana: 19.2%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 1,635 (Louisiana: 871,467)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 5.6% (Louisiana: 15.4%)
> Median household income: $99,953 (Louisiana: $49,469)
Source: Sean Pavone / iStock via Getty Images
Maine: South Portland
> Poverty rate: 8.8% (Maine: 11.8%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 2,184 (Maine: 153,131)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 8.6% (Maine: 13.5%)
> Median household income: $69,290 (Maine: $57,918)
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Source: Famartin / Wikimedia Commons
Maryland: Bel Air North
> Poverty rate: 2.6% (Maryland: 9.2%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 819 (Maryland: 539,991)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 1.7% (Maryland: 10.2%)
> Median household income: $107,689 (Maryland: $84,805)
Source: Magicpiano / Wikimedia Commons
Massachusetts: Needham
> Poverty rate: 2.7% (Massachusetts: 10.3%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 823 (Massachusetts: 680,962)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 3.1% (Massachusetts: 11.7%)
> Median household income: $165,547 (Massachusetts: $81,215)
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Source: Purdue9394 / iStock via Getty Images
Michigan: Forest Hills
> Poverty rate: 2.8% (Michigan: 14.4%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 781 (Michigan: 1,398,527)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 0.6% (Michigan: 13.3%)
> Median household income: $119,404 (Michigan: $57,144)
Minnesota: Cottage Grove
> Poverty rate: 2.3% (Minnesota: 9.7%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 825 (Minnesota: 526,065)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 3.3% (Minnesota: 7.9%)
> Median household income: $102,039 (Minnesota: $71,306)
Source: Courtesy of City of Olive Branch - Government via Facebook
Mississippi: Olive Branch
> Poverty rate: 6.9% (Mississippi: 20.3%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 2,569 (Mississippi: 585,786)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 6.5% (Mississippi: 15.4%)
> Median household income: $74,680 (Mississippi: $45,081)
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Missouri: Wildwood
> Poverty rate: 3.0% (Missouri: 13.7%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 1,043 (Missouri: 810,045)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 1.7% (Missouri: 11.1%)
> Median household income: $135,202 (Missouri: $55,461)
Source: wellesenterprises / Getty Images
Montana: Billings
> Poverty rate: 10.0% (Montana: 13.1%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 10,652 (Montana: 134,605)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 7.8% (Montana: 9.2%)
> Median household income: $59,656 (Montana: $54,970)
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Source: Ammodramus / Wikimedia Commons
Nebraska: Bellevue
> Poverty rate: 10.5% (Nebraska: 11.1%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 5,524 (Nebraska: 206,579)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 9.1% (Nebraska: 8.3%)
> Median household income: $65,308 (Nebraska: $61,439)
Source: LPETTET / iStock via Getty Images
Nevada: Summerlin South
> Poverty rate: 6.1% (Nevada: 13.1%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 1,702 (Nevada: 384,690)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 1.8% (Nevada: 11.8%)
> Median household income: $93,899 (Nevada: $60,365)
Source: warrenlemay / Flickr
New Hampshire: Concord
> Poverty rate: 9.0% (New Hampshire: 7.6%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 3,668 (New Hampshire: 98,682)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 12.2% (New Hampshire: 6.9%)
> Median household income: $66,719 (New Hampshire: $76,768)
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New Jersey: Ridgewood
> Poverty rate: 3.5% (New Jersey: 10.0%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 878 (New Jersey: 869,081)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 2.5% (New Jersey: 8.7%)
> Median household income: $184,355 (New Jersey: $82,545)
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
New Mexico: Rio Rancho
> Poverty rate: 9.5% (New Mexico: 19.1%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 9,112 (New Mexico: 392,065)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 10.0% (New Mexico: 17.2%)
> Median household income: $66,856 (New Mexico: $49,754)
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Source: AJW1188 / Wikimedia Commons
New York: Commack
> Poverty rate: 2.7% (New York: 14.1%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 969 (New York: 2,681,277)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 2.6% (New York: 14.7%)
> Median household income: $138,098 (New York: $68,486)
Source: Courtesy of Huntersville, North Carolina - Town Government
North Carolina: Huntersville
> Poverty rate: 4.2% (North Carolina: 14.7%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 2,363 (North Carolina: 1,467,591)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 2.1% (North Carolina: 12.6%)
> Median household income: $102,016 (North Carolina: $54,602)
Source: kenlund / Flickr
North Dakota: West Fargo
> Poverty rate: 6.4% (North Dakota: 10.7%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 2,244 (North Dakota: 78,198)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 4.5% (North Dakota: 6.7%)
> Median household income: $85,120 (North Dakota: $64,894)
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Source: Postdlf / Wikimedia Commons
Ohio: Upper Arlington
> Poverty rate: 2.3% (Ohio: 14.0%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 811 (Ohio: 1,588,343)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 1.3% (Ohio: 13.1%)
> Median household income: $123,548 (Ohio: $56,602)
Source: Lana2011 / iStock via Getty Images
Oklahoma: Bixby
> Poverty rate: 5.7% (Oklahoma: 15.7%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 1,495 (Oklahoma: 598,373)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 4.5% (Oklahoma: 12.8%)
> Median household income: $83,119 (Oklahoma: $52,919)
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Source: bradleyhebdon / E+ via Getty Images
Oregon: Lake Oswego
> Poverty rate: 3.9% (Oregon: 13.2%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 1,505 (Oregon: 533,527)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 3.1% (Oregon: 15.8%)
> Median household income: $108,927 (Oregon: $62,818)
Source: Lee Paxton / Wikimedia Commons
Pennsylvania: Plum
> Poverty rate: 3.9% (Pennsylvania: 12.4%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 1,054 (Pennsylvania: 1,539,183)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 4.6% (Pennsylvania: 13.3%)
> Median household income: $78,709 (Pennsylvania: $61,744)
Source: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons
Rhode Island: Warwick
> Poverty rate: 6.2% (Rhode Island: 12.4%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 4,951 (Rhode Island: 125,826)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 11.1% (Rhode Island: 15.3%)
> Median household income: $73,757 (Rhode Island: $67,167)
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Source: PeterPhoto / Getty Images
South Carolina: Mount Pleasant
> Poverty rate: 4.6% (South Carolina: 15.2%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 3,961 (South Carolina: 741,650)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 1.9% (South Carolina: 12.3%)
> Median household income: $103,232 (South Carolina: $53,199)
Source: DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images
South Dakota: Sioux Falls
> Poverty rate: 10.4% (South Dakota: 13.1%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 17,852 (South Dakota: 110,553)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 9.5% (South Dakota: 9.2%)
> Median household income: $59,912 (South Dakota: $58,275)
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Source: Courtesy of Thomas R Machnitzki under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en) / Wikimedia Commons
Tennessee: Germantown
> Poverty rate: 2.5% (Tennessee: 15.2%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 964 (Tennessee: 996,930)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 1.4% (Tennessee: 13.6%)
> Median household income: $118,163 (Tennessee: $53,320)
Source: Runfellow / Wikimedia Commons
Texas: Flower Mound
> Poverty rate: 2.9% (Texas: 14.7%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 2,235 (Texas: 4,072,194)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 2.1% (Texas: 11.8%)
> Median household income: $137,285 (Texas: $61,874)
Source: Jeremy Taylor / Wikimedia Commons
Utah: South Jordan
> Poverty rate: 2.7% (Utah: 9.8%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 1,948 (Utah: 298,537)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 2.4% (Utah: 6.7%)
> Median household income: $104,597 (Utah: $71,621)
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Source: Sean Pavone / Getty Images
Vermont: Burlington*
> Poverty rate: 26.4% (Vermont: 10.9%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 9,451 (Vermont: 65,652)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 13.4% (Vermont: 11.3%)
> Median household income: $51,394 (Vermont: $61,973)
*Because Burlington is the only eligible city in Vermont, it is the city with the lowest poverty rate by default.
Source: ablokhin / iStock via Getty Images
Virginia: Burke
> Poverty rate: 2.2% (Virginia: 10.6%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 931 (Virginia: 865,691)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 2.6% (Virginia: 8.2%)
> Median household income: $145,234 (Virginia: $74,222)
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Source: 4nadia / Getty Images
Washington: Sammamish
> Poverty rate: 2.4% (Washington: 10.8%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 1,549 (Washington: 785,244)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 1.7% (Washington: 11.9%)
> Median household income: $174,003 (Washington: $73,775)
Source: StanRohrer / Getty Images
West Virginia: Wheeling
> Poverty rate: 13.8% (West Virginia: 17.6%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 3,574 (West Virginia: 310,044)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 16.9% (West Virginia: 16.8%)
> Median household income: $44,119 (West Virginia: $46,711)
Wisconsin: Menomonee Falls
> Poverty rate: 2.8% (Wisconsin: 11.3%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 1,033 (Wisconsin: 639,160)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 2.7% (Wisconsin: 10.8%)
> Median household income: $82,396 (Wisconsin: $61,747)
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Wyoming: Casper
> Poverty rate: 10.0% (Wyoming: 11.0%)
> Number of people living below poverty line: 5,737 (Wyoming: 62,257)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 6.2% (Wyoming: 5.4%)
> Median household income: $61,979 (Wyoming: $64,049)
Methodology
To determine the city with the lowest poverty rate in every state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed five-year estimates of the percentage of people who live below the poverty line from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey.
We used census “place” geographies — a category that includes 29,573 incorporated legal entities and census-designated statistical entities. Of those, 29,319 had boundaries that fell within one of the 50 states, while the rest were in the District of Columbia or Puerto Rico.
We defined cities based on a population threshold — having more than 25,000 people — and 1,774 of the places fell within this threshold.
Cities were excluded if poverty rates were not available in the 2019 ACS, if the population for which the poverty status was determined was less than 1,000, if 25% or more of a city’s population were enrolled in undergraduate, professional, or graduate school during the same period, or if the sampling error associated with a city’s data was deemed too high.
The sampling error was defined as too high if the coefficient of variation — a statistical assessment of how reliable an estimate is — for a city’s poverty rate was above 15% and greater than two standard deviations above the mean CV for all cities’ poverty rates. We similarly excluded cities that had a sampling error too high for their population.
The remaining 1,701 places were ranked within their state based on their poverty rates. Additional information on the number of people living below the poverty line, median household income, and the share of households receiving SNAP benefits are also five-year estimates from the 2019 ACS.
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