National Poverty in America Awareness Month: Measuring Poverty

America Counts: Stories Behind the Numbers

There were 37.3 million people in poverty in 2020, according to the official poverty measure. In contrast, there were 29.8 million people in poverty that same year, according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure. While these measures may seem at odds with each other, they each present a different angle of poverty in the United States.