Indicators Idaho

The poverty rate is the percentage of people living below the poverty level or “threshold.” Each year, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget establishes a series of poverty thresholds for different family sizes and ages of household heads.

Among Washington's residents, the poverty rate for people under 18 . . .

was 12.0 percent in 2021, 13.2 percent in 1999, and 14.5 percent in 1989;
was 12.0 percent compared to 16.9 percent in the U.S. in 2021;
ranked 44^th - from highest to lowest - out of the 50 states in 2021.

These next data come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. They are based on averages of data collected in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. These estimates cannot be used to say what is going on in any particular year in the period, only what the average value is over the full period. The Census Bureau's data.census.gov provides 3-year estimates for counties with at 20,000 people, and 1-year estimates for counties with at least 65,000 people. We use 5-year estimates because they are available for all counties and allow comparison to other counties within the region.

The poverty rate for the youngest children, those under age 5 . . .

was 13.4 percent in 2016-2020 compared to 15.9 percent in 1999;
was 13.4 percent in 2016-2020 compared to 19.1 percent in the U.S.;
ranked 42^nd - from highest to lowest - out of the 50 states in 2016-2020.

The rate for people 65 and over . . .

was 7.5 percent in 2016-2020 and 7.5 percent in 1999;
was 7.5 percent compared to 9.3 percent in the U.S. in 2016-2020;
ranked 40^th - from highest to lowest - out of the 50 states in 2016-2020.

To get the most out of this indicator . . .

Ask questions:

· Are child and elderly poverty rates increasing or decreasing over time?

· How do your county’s child and elderly poverty rates compare to the state or national rate?

Look at other indicators:

· “Income and poverty: Poverty rate, overall” – How do child and elderly poverty rates compare to the overall poverty rate?

· “Income and poverty: Reduced price school lunch program” – How many school-age children are from low-income families?

Dig deeper:

· Look at the county rankings for your state and/or view maps to see how your county compares to others.

· Download data for your county or state to view the total number of children or elderly persons living in poverty.

· The U.S. Census Bureau publishes poverty thresholds for various household and family types. See http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/threshld.html.

· Take a Big Picture view of your county.

· If you have specific questions, send us an e-mail.

NOTE: These ACS data for children under the age of 5 and elderly populations in poverty are estimates based on a five-year average, meaning that data gathered from 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 are averaged together to come up with the results shown here. There is no problem with comparing these data to census data from 2000. For a technical discussion of the "margins of error" associated with ACS estimates, please see: (https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/library/handbooks/researchers.html)

Source: 1979: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Census of Population and Housing, (https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/data/tables.1980.html);
1989-2020: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, (https://www.census.gov/data-tools/demo/saipe/#/?map_geoSelector=aa_c); 2012-2020: U.S. Bureau of the Census, American Community Survey, (https://data.census.gov/cedsci/); DATE LAST UPDATED: April 25, 2023.