Native Americans Have the Highest Poverty Rate in America

What We’re Showing

This chart lists the rate and number of Americans below the poverty level, categorized by self-selected race.

Data was sourced from the American Community Survey 2022, conducted by the Census Bureau. For this chart only single race selections have been visualized.

Key Takeaways

• Around one-in-five Native and Black Americans are below the poverty threshold in America.
• By contrast, less than one-in-ten Americans who identify as white are poor.
• However, by absolute numbers they still make up the largest group (19.5M).
• America’s country-wide poverty rate is at 12%, or about 41 million people.

What defines the poverty level?

The Census Bureau uses a set of income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine the poverty line.

If a family's total income is less than the calculated threshold, then that family and every individual in it is considered in poverty.