The share and number of people living in extreme poverty in United States
United States: The share and number of people living in extreme poverty was 1.1% in 2024. ▲ Rising
The share and number of people living in extreme poverty in United States, 1963–2024
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for the share and number of people living in extreme poverty in United States is 1.1%, measured in 2024.
The figure is down 8.3% on the previous year and down 15.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, the share and number of people living in extreme poverty in United States peaked at 1.6% in 1963 and was at its lowest, 0.3%, in 2021.
United States ranks 62nd of 120 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 62 years of available data.
The share and number of people living in extreme poverty in United States, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1963 | 1.6% | — |
| 1964 | 1.5% | -6.3% |
| 1965 | 1.3% | -13.3% |
| 1966 | 1.2% | -7.7% |
| 1967 | 1.1% | -8.3% |
| 1968 | 0.9% | -18.2% |
| 1969 | 0.7% | -22.2% |
| 1970 | 1.1% | +57.1% |
| 1971 | 0.9% | -18.2% |
| 1972 | 0.8% | -11.1% |
| 1973 | 0.8% | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 0.9% | +12.5% |
| 1975 | 0.7% | -22.2% |
| 1976 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 0.6% | -14.3% |
| 1978 | 0.6% | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 0.7% | +16.7% |
| 1980 | 0.6% | -14.3% |
| 1981 | 0.6% | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 0.8% | +33.3% |
| 1983 | 0.7% | -12.5% |
| 1984 | 0.6% | -14.3% |
| 1985 | 0.6% | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 0.6% | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 0.6% | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 0.5% | -16.7% |
| 1989 | 0.5% | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 0.5% | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 0.6% | +20.0% |
| 1992 | 0.6% | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 0.6% | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 0.7% | +16.7% |
| 1995 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 0.8% | +14.3% |
| 1998 | 0.9% | +12.5% |
| 1999 | 0.7% | -22.2% |
| 2000 | 0.8% | +14.3% |
| 2001 | 0.9% | +12.5% |
| 2002 | 0.9% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 1.0% | +11.1% |
| 2004 | 1.1% | +10.0% |
| 2005 | 1.0% | -9.1% |
| 2006 | 1.1% | +10.0% |
| 2007 | 1.0% | -9.1% |
| 2008 | 1.1% | +10.0% |
| 2009 | 1.0% | -9.1% |
| 2010 | 1.1% | +10.0% |
| 2011 | 1.1% | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 1.1% | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 1.1% | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 1.3% | +18.2% |
| 2015 | 1.2% | -7.7% |
| 2016 | 1.2% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 1.3% | +8.3% |
| 2018 | 1.1% | -15.4% |
| 2019 | 1.0% | -9.1% |
| 2020 | 0.4% | -60.0% |
| 2021 | 0.3% | -25.0% |
| 2022 | 1.4% | +366.7% |
| 2023 | 1.2% | -14.3% |
| 2024 | 1.1% | -8.3% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 1.1% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.4%, 2.8× the median. (42 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where The share and number of people living in extreme poverty in United States changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | +366.7% | 0.3% | 1.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.2% | 0.7% | 1.6% | 7 |
| 1970s | 0.8% | 0.6% | 1.1% | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.0% | 0.8% | 1.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.9% | 0.3% | 1.4% | 5 |
Countries ranked near United States
More poverty & inequality data for United States
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 9 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.62 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 8,414 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate 1 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 24.85 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 24.8% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is the share and number of people living in extreme poverty in United States?
- The share and number of people living in extreme poverty in United States was 1.1% in 2024, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest the share and number of people living in extreme poverty recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 1.6% in 1963.
- What is the lowest the share and number of people living in extreme poverty recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3% in 2021.
- How does United States rank for the share and number of people living in extreme poverty?
- United States ranks 62nd out of 120 countries with data for 2024.
- Is the share and number of people living in extreme poverty rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 15.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of The share and number of people living in extreme poverty. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 62 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below $3 per day.