Data / Rankings / Poverty rate (US official measure) / US counties

US counties by poverty rate

Ziebach County had the highest poverty rate of 3134 counties in 2020, at 43.9%. Douglas County had the lowest, at 3%. The median was 12.8% and the figure for the United States was 11.9%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Full ranking

Showing the top 250 of 3134. The CSV download has every row.

Other periods

• 2024
• 2023
• 2022
• 2021
• 2020
• 2019
• 2018
• 2017
• 2016
• 2015

About this ranking

People living in families or alone with income below the official US poverty thresholds, as a percentage of people whose poverty status can be determined. United States: Census Bureau Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE), all ages.

Absolute thresholds set by the US government, so not comparable with the EU at_risk_of_poverty_rate.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. 9 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2020 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE): percent of people of all ages in poverty, states and counties. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/saipe/datasets/2020/2020-state-and-county/est20all.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

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Poverty rate (US official measure): other rankings

• US states
• Counties in Texas
• Counties in Georgia
• Counties in Virginia
• Counties in Kentucky
• Counties in Missouri
• Counties in Kansas
• Counties in Illinois
• Counties in North Carolina
• Counties in Iowa
• Counties in Tennessee
• Counties in Nebraska

US counties: more rankings

• Asian population share
• Bachelor's degree or higher, population 25 and over
• Live births, July to June
• Black or African American population share
• Crude birth rate, July to June
• Crude death rate, July to June
• Deaths, July to June
• Foreign-born population share
• Real GDP growth
• GDP per capita, US dollars
• Gross domestic product (GDP), US dollars
• Hispanic or Latino population share
• Homeownership rate (US, housing units)
• Median age
• Median gross rent (monthly)
• Median home value