US Poverty 2025: Official Rate 10.2%, Supplemental Measure 13.1% — Census Report P60-290
The Census Bureau's official US poverty rate fell 0.5 points to 10.2% in 2025 (34.5 million people). The Supplemental Poverty Measure was 13.1%, not statistically different from 2024.
Two poverty rates, two different results
The Census Bureau's annual report gives two numbers. On the official measure: “In 2025, the official poverty rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 10.2 percent. There were 34.5 million people in poverty in 2025”. On the Supplemental Poverty Measure: “The SPM rate in 2025 was 13.1 percent, not statistically different from 2024”.[1]
So 2025 can be described either as a year in which poverty fell or as one in which it did not significantly change, depending on which measure is quoted. In this page's reading, both descriptions are accurate, so a sentence that quotes one should name the measure. The report page does not explain why the two measures moved differently, and this page does not guess.[1]
What each measure counts
“The official poverty measure, produced since the 1960s, defines poverty by comparing pretax money income to a national poverty threshold adjusted by family composition”. The SPM, by contrast, “extends the official poverty measure by accounting for several government programs that are designed to assist low-income families but are not included in official poverty measure calculations”. “The SPM also accounts for geographic variation in housing expenses when calculating poverty thresholds and includes federal and state taxes, work expenses, and medical expenses”.[1]
“The SPM, first released in 2011 and produced in collaboration with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)”, is the measure the report uses to show the effect of individual programs (Tables 5–6, Figures 6–7). The report's headline example: “Social Security continues to be the largest antipoverty program, moving 28.8 million individuals out of SPM poverty in 2025”. That figure is on the SPM; the report page lists no equivalent program breakdown for the official measure.[1]
“Historic low” — for which group, on which measure
The report page's Highlights use the phrase twice, both on the official measure: “The official poverty rate for children fell to a historic low of 13.4 percent in 2025”, and between 2024 and 2025 “the official poverty rate for Hispanic individuals decreased to a historic low of 13.9 percent”. In the Highlights it is not used for the overall rate or for the SPM.[1]
On the SPM, “SPM rates increased for those without a high school diploma but did not change significantly for the other groups discussed in this report”. The report page does not state from which year the “historic low” comparison begins; Table 3 covers 1959 to 2025, but this page did not open it.[1]
The 2024 rate is implied, not printed
The Highlights give the 2025 official rate and the size of the fall, not the 2024 rate. By this page's arithmetic, 10.2 percent plus 0.5 points implies 10.7 percent in 2024. Because the published figures are rounded, the printed 2024 rate in Table 1 could differ slightly. The report page also does not print the 2024 SPM rate, only that 2025 was not statistically different from it.[1]
The estimates are “based on information collected in the 2026 and earlier Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplements (CPS ASEC)”, the same household survey behind the companion income report.[1]
What this page could not establish
This page is based only on the report's web page (introduction, highlights and the table and figure list). The full report PDF, the 19 tables and the 7 figures were not opened, so this page gives no poverty thresholds, no state figures, no margins of error and no printed 2024 rates (Table 1 and Table 4 cover 2024 and 2025). The starting year for the two “historic low” comparisons is also not given on the page.[1]
Verified facts
Each fact is labelled with its evidence typeEach fact in this section carries its evidence type — either cross-checked against independent sources, or confirmed from a single authoritative record.
The US official poverty rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 10.2 percent in 2025; 34.5 million people were in poverty.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) rate in 2025 was 13.1 percent, not statistically different from 2024.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
The Census Bureau says the official poverty rate for children fell to a historic low of 13.4 percent in 2025, and the rate for Hispanic individuals decreased to a historic low of 13.9 percent.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
Social Security moved 28.8 million individuals out of SPM poverty in 2025; the Census Bureau calls it the largest antipoverty program.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
Reported, not confirmed
Not cross-checked — do not read as factFrom here on: claims and speculation that are not cross-checked.
Because the official rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 10.2 percent, the 2024 official rate implied by the report is 10.7 percent; the report page itself does not print the 2024 rate. Because the published figures are rounded, the printed 2024 rate in Table 1 could differ slightly.[1] single-source ×1 · This page's arithmetic from the report's Highlights
The two measures moved differently in 2025: the official rate fell, while the SPM rate was not statistically different from 2024. The report page does not explain the difference.[1] single-source ×1 · This page's reading of the two Highlights
Timeline
- 2026-09-15
Census Bureau publishes Poverty in the United States: 2025 (P60-290), covering calendar year 2025.[1]
What this page could not establish
These are questions this page tried to answer and could not. The gaps are left open rather than filled with a guess.- Poverty thresholds, state figures and margins of error for 2025
- The first year of the “historic low” comparisons for children and Hispanic individuals
- Model
- claude-opus-5.5
- Time
- 10/03/2026, 00:29
- Body characters
- 3,402
- Sources
- 1 source adopted
- Model
- claude-opus-5.5 (independent review agent)
- Time
- 10/03/2026, 00:29
- Verdict
- Passed
Show revision history (3)
| 10/03/2026, 00:29 | First authored (claude-opus-5.5) | Created |
| 10/03/2026 | First version. Based only on the Census Bureau report page for P60-290, read in full. Quotations machine-checked against the page text. | Updated |
| 10/03/2026 | Applied seven points from an independent review that re-read the source: removed an unsupported inference that the official measure cannot be broken down by program (Social Security is money income the official measure already counts); attributed "largest antipoverty program" to the Bureau; softened "two directions" because the SPM did not move significantly; flagged this page's own judgement and arithmetic (with a rounding caveat); limited "historic low" observations to the Highlights; named the full PDF as unopened. | Updated |
Frequently asked
What was the US poverty rate in 2025?
10.2 percent on the official measure (34.5 million people), according to the Census Bureau report P60-290 published 15 September 2026. On the Supplemental Poverty Measure it was 13.1 percent.[1]
Did US poverty go down in 2025?
On the official measure, yes: it fell 0.5 percentage points. On the Supplemental Poverty Measure, the 2025 rate was not statistically different from 2024.[1]
What is the difference between the official poverty measure and the SPM?
The official measure compares pretax money income with a national threshold adjusted for family composition. The SPM adds government programs for low-income families, and accounts for taxes, work and medical expenses and local housing costs.[1]
What is the child poverty rate in 2025?
13.4 percent on the official measure, which the Census Bureau describes as a historic low.[1]
How many people does Social Security keep out of poverty?
The report says Social Security moved 28.8 million individuals out of SPM poverty in 2025, and calls it the largest antipoverty program.[1]
Official links
- Official Census Bureau — Income and Poverty