Data Sources
The September 2025 edition of this data product uses county-level data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000 Decennial Censuses and American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year period estimates for 2007–11, 2017–21, 2018-22, and 2019-23. Data for census tracts include the same data sources and years except for 1960 because of the limited number of defined census tracts in that year of data collection. Geographically standardized poverty rates for census tracts in the years before 2017–21 are calculated using data from Geolytics’ Neighborhood Change Database. The Neighborhood Change Database normalizes Decennial Census data to 2020 census-tract geographies allowing for better comparisons of census tract poverty rates over time. USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) relies on poverty/population counts from these sources to derive poverty rates that are used to create the poverty area measures in this data product.
Rural Classifications
Several spatial variables are provided in the data product that can be used for identifying rural areas. At the county-level they include ERS’s Rural Urban Continuum Codes (RUCC a.k.a. Beale codes) and metropolitan/nonmetropolitan county designations (derived from Metropolitan statistical areas defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and delineation files published by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census). The Rural-Urban Commuting Area Codes (RUCA) for census tracts are also provided. For additional information on these and other rural classifications, data, and definitions see ERS’s Rural Classifications webpage.
Data Reliability
American Community Survey (ACS) estimates are derived from a sample of the total U.S. population, which means the estimates are subject to sampling error, particularly for geographic areas with small populations. The Census Bureau publishes a measure of this error, the margin of error (MOE). This information is used to create a reliability index to classify each observation’s reliability as low, moderate, and high. In addition, the MOEs are used to determine the upper and lower bounds of the confidence interval for each poverty rate estimate (poverty rate +/- MOE). The bounds are used to determine if an area’s high (poverty rate of 20 percent or more) or extreme (poverty rate of 40 percent or more) poverty area status would change at its upper or lower bound values.
High and extreme poverty area status are not reported for geographic areas with a low reliability index score and where the upper and lower bound values of its confidence interval would change the poverty area status determined by the estimate. These areas are coded as "not available" with a coded value of –1 in the poverty area measures data file. This coding applies to ACS data years only; measures of reliability are not determined for Decennial Census data years. The -1 coding is also used for high and extreme poverty area measures where count data for determining the poverty rate are missing in any data period. Persistent poverty area and enduring poverty area measures are not reported (also coded as –1 in the data file) if high poverty status is coded as "not available" in any of the data years included in the measure’s formula.
Geographic Coverage
The geographic coverage of this data product includes counties and census tracts within the 50 U.S. States and Washington DC. Measures for island territories are not provided due to data limitations for earlier years as well as concerns about the appropriateness of applying the poverty thresholds to areas with markedly different economic conditions.
Poverty count data may be missing in any given year, but this omission is more likely for counties in 1960 and for census tracts in the years 1960, 1970, and 1980. No measures are reported for 1960s census tracts given that census tract geography at that time was extremely limited. Census tract geography improved over time but was not available nationwide until 1990.
| Data period | Counties where poverty status is determined (out of a total possible 3,144) | Census tracts where poverty status is determined (out of a total possible 84,415) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High poverty | Extreme poverty | High poverty | Extreme poverty | |
| 1960 | 3,102 | 3,102 | NA | NA |
| 1970 | 3,118 | 3,118 | 59,185 | 59,185 |
| 1980 | 3,127 | 3,127 | 67,440 | 67,440 |
| 1990 | 3,133 | 3,133 | 83,816 | 83,816 |
| 2000 | 3,136 | 3,136 | 84,080 | 84,080 |
| 2007–11 | 3,136 | 3,141 | 83,560 | 83,560 |
| 2017–21 | 3,135 | 3,143 | 78,143 | 82,006 |
| 2018-22 | 3,136 | 3,143 | 78,434 | 82,231 |
| 2019-23 | 3,136 | 3,144 | 78,388 | 82,299 |
| NA = Not available. Census tracts are unavailable for 1960. Note: Geographic coverage includes counties and census tracts within the 50 States and Washington DC. Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000 Decennial Census data and 2007–11, 2017–21, 2018–22, and 2019–23 American Community Survey 5-year estimates. |
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| Data period | Counties where poverty status is determined (out of a total possible 3,144) | Census tracts where poverty status is determined (out of a total possible 84,415) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persistent poverty | Enduring poverty | Persistent poverty | Enduring poverty | |
| Ending in 1990 | 3,101 | NA | NA | NA |
| Ending in 2000 | 3,118 | NA | 59,065 | NA |
| Ending in 2007–11 | 3,121 | 3,112 | 66,967 | 58,710 |
| Ending in 2017–21 | 3,120 | 3,114 | 77,854 | 62,447 |
| NA = Not available. Data are not available for earlier years. Note: Geographic coverage includes counties and census tracts within the 50 U.S. States and Washington, DC. Source: USDA, ERS using data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000 Decennial Census data and 2007–11, and 2017–21 American Community Survey 5-year estimates. |
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Geographic Normalization
All census tract poverty area measures are reported using 2023 census tract geography (see Data Sources above). This consistency allows researchers to directly compare census tract measures over time. All county poverty area measures are also reported using current county geography up until 2023. Any changes in county geocoding are applied to the census tract geocoding. For example, in 2020 counties in Connecticut were replaced by newly defined planning regions with new Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) codes. This change was incorporated into the ACS data beginning with the 5-year period ending in 2023. The geographic identifiers for all census tracts within the county were updated from 2020 to 2023 to reflect the new FIPS code. This geographic normalization process accounts for any differences between the census tract and county geocoding, which allows for direct comparison of the two geographic scales in any year included in the poverty area measures data file.
Updates Revision History
September 2025 Edition—Release includes geographic boundary and geocode updates to 2023 county and census tract geographies (all data years, all measures), removal of the 2015-19 research measure , and the addition of 2018-22 and 2019-23 high and extreme poverty area measures.
December 2023 Edition—County-level measures using 2017–21 poverty estimates were added to the November 2022 Edition of the data product.
November 2022 Edition—The initial Poverty Area Measures data product was released including 2010 census tract geography and county geography current to January 2021 and data years 1960 (counties only), 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2007-11, and 2015-19.
Additional Details
The downloadable Excel data file includes separate worksheets for county and census tract measures as well as a worksheet with combined county and census tract measures. Geocoding is provided for merging any of the data sheets with supplemental data that use Census Bureau’s geographies. The Excel workbook also includes worksheets with documentation and a poverty area measures codebook, which can be referenced for more detailed information about what’s in the data file. For more on the history, methodological details, uses of the measures, and example visualizations see The Poverty Area Measures Data Product technical bulletin.
Recommended Citation
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Poverty Area Measures, September 2025.