The poverty rate measures the percentage of people living in poverty. The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to detect who is poor. The poverty thresholds do not vary geographically, but they are updated annually for inflation with the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). This chart estimates the poverty rates of the population by race. Note that there is not enough data to show for the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander category. People living in poverty are more vulnerable to losing access to the basic necessities of life such as shelter, heat, electricity, and food. Poverty also limits access to education, jobs, health care, and is related to lower educational and health outcomes in children. It is important to make sure that poverty declines for all racial and ethnic groups as our region grows in prosperity.
Between 2023 and 2024, poverty rates by race mostly increased or remained largely unchanged. Most changes were small; however, the largest change was found in the “Some other race” category which increased from 20% to 21.3%. Poverty levels in 2024 were greatest for Black or African Americans, where 1 in 4 live in poverty in Southeast Michigan; while poverty levels were lowest for Whites and Asians, where 1 in 10 live in poverty.
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year Estimate[Table code: S1701]
This chart uses 5-year American Community Survey data which is not directly comparable to the 1-year American Community Survey data. The observation year represents the last year of the 5-year survey, for example, year 2022 represents the survey period of 2018-2022. Some race categories have a small sample size, resulting in large observational variances. For some years, data are suppressed and there is a break in the time series.