On Thursday, the U.S. Census Bureau released its state-level, county-level, and place-level American Community Survey data on income, employment, poverty, and other population characteristics in 2015.  According to this survey, 46.2 million people or 14.7% had income below the federal poverty level and 20.4 million or 6.5% had income below half of the poverty level in 2015, statistically significant decreases of 2 million or 0.8% and 800,000 or 0.3%, respectively, from 2014.

The five states that had the largest percent of people who had income below the federal poverty level were, in descending order, Mississippi, New Mexico, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Kentucky with between 18.% and 22.0% in poverty.  Two of these five states also had the largest percent of people with income below half of the federal poverty level.  The five states with the largest percent were, in descending order, Mississippi, the District of Columbia, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Arizona with between 8.2% and 10.4% in deep poverty.

Poverty, Deep Poverty, and Homelessness in 2015

A different picture emerges when looking at the total number of persons with income below the federal poverty level and below half of the federal poverty level.  The five states with the largest number of persons living in poverty and in deep poverty were, in descending order, California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois with 1.7 million in poverty and 784,000 in deep poverty in Illinois and 5.9 million in poverty and 2.6 million in deep poverty in California.

The states with the largest numbers of persons living in poverty and in deep poverty also had the largest numbers of homeless persons on a given night in 2015 according to HUD’s Point-in-Time Count.  Specifically, four of the five states with the largest numbers of persons experiencing poverty and deep poverty had the four largest numbers of homeless persons: California with 115,000 homeless persons, New York with 88,000 homeless persons, Florida with 35,000 homeless persons, and Texas with 23,000 homeless persons. After Massachusetts with 21,000 homeless persons, Washington with 19,000 homeless persons, Pennsylvania with 15,000 homeless persons, and Georgia and Oregon with 13,000 homeless persons, Illinois was the state with the 10th highest number of homeless persons.  In addition, the three states with the largest numbers of persons in poverty and in deep poverty also had the largest numbers of homeless persons who were without shelter on the streets: California with 73,000 unsheltered homeless persons, Florida with 17,000 unsheltered homeless persons, and Texas with 7,000 unsheltered homeless persons.

The states with the largest numbers of persons experiencing poverty, deep poverty, and homelessness had poverty and deep poverty levels greater than the overall national level in 2015.  Specifically, four of the five states with the largest numbers of persons in poverty and in deep poverty and who were homeless had a poverty level greater than the national level of 14.7% and had a deep poverty level greater than the national level of 6.5%: California, New York, Florida, and Texas with between 15.3% and 15.9% in poverty and between 6.6% and 6.9% in deep poverty.

The Census and HUD data indicate that poverty and deep poverty are associated with homelessness on a statewide basis.  Therefore, additional reductions in poverty and deep poverty should reduce the numbers of homeless persons.