U.S. Department of Commerce


Frequently Asked Questions



FAQ

Does the U.S. Census Bureau provide data on poverty?

Our web site on Poverty provides data links to all of the sources of poverty data that are published by the Census Bureau.  These include data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), the American Community survey (ACS), Census 2000, and other data sources.  Also, you can access Detailed and Historical Poverty tables from this page.

  • The Current Population Survey collects national and state poverty data through our annual report "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008".  Tables can be produced for the U.S. and states and Detailed Tables for the nation.

The following sites require using our data access tool "American FactFinder." If you need assistance you may call the Customer Liaison and Marketing Services Office at 1-800-923-8282 or (301) 763-INFO (4636).

  • American Community Survey (ACS): Estimates for the United States, Puerto Rico, all states, Congressional Districts, and geographic areas of 65,000 or more are released annually in the ACS 1-year estimates.  Data for all geographic areas of 20,000 or more are available annually from the ACS 3-year estimates.  Data for geographic areas as small as tracts and block groups are available annually from the ACS 5-year estimates.  Learn more about the ACS on our website and access our estimates via American FactFinder.

  • 2000 Census on Population and Housing - Poverty data are provided from Summary File 3 and Summary File 4 for all geographic areas in the U.S.  You can also access 1990 Census data using Summary Tape File 3.  The census does provide poverty data tables for all geographies down to the block group level and all ZIP Code Tabulation Areas in the U.S.

(FAQ93)

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