13.4% of Texas residents live in poverty, Census Bureau finds

Texas residents living below the poverty line in 2017-18 made up 13.4 percent of the state’s population, the 13th highest rank among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to new Census Bureau data.

The state’s poverty rate was down 0.8 percentage points from the two-year average of 2015-16 (14.3 percent), the Census Bureau reported.

Nationwide, the median household income stood at $63,179 last year, which was unchanged from 2017, according to the analysis. But the U.S. poverty rate did tick down 0.5 percent from 2017 to 2018, to 11.8 percent, the study found.

Over the same time period, the median earnings of all American workers rose by 3.4 percent to $40,247, according to the Census Bureau.

The share of the U.S. population with health insurance in 2018, however, was 91.5 percent, compared to 92.1 percent a year earlier, the study says.

The Census Bureau’s 2018 numbers also showed that the national poverty rate had declined for the fourth year in a row.

Poverty Rates by State

State 2015-2016 Average Poverty Rate 2017-2018 Average Poverty Rate Change in % From  2015-2016 to 2017-2018 Rank Based on 2017-2018 Poverty Rate
Louisiana 19.4 19.8 0.4 1
Mississippi 20.1 19.0 -1.1 2
New Mexico 18.7 18.2 -0.5 3
West Virginia 16.3 16.5 0.2 4
Alabama 16.3 15.6 -0.6 5
Arkansas 16.1 15.4 -0.7 6
Kentucky 17.4 14.6 *-2.8 7
District of Columbia 16.5 14.3 *-2.2 8
North Carolina 14.4 14.1 -0.3 9
Georgia 16.8 14.0 *-2.8 10
South Carolina 14.2 14.0 -0.2 11
Florida 14.6 13.5 -1.0 12
Texas 14.3 13.4 -0.8 13
Arizona 16.6 13.2 *-3.4 14
Nevada 11.5 13.1 1.5 15
Oklahoma 14.4 13.1 -1.2 16
Alaska 10.9 12.6 1.7 17
Ohio 13.6 12.4 -1.3 18
California 13.9 12.0 *-1.9 19
Maine 12.5 12.0 -0.5 20
Missouri 11.4 11.9 0.5 21
New York 13.1 11.9 *-1.1 22
Tennessee 14.8 11.7 *-3.1 23
Indiana 12.7 11.6 -1.1 24
Idaho 11.7 11.5 -0.2 25
Pennsylvania 11.7 11.4 -0.4 26
Wyoming 10.3 11.2 0.9 27
North Dakota 10.9 11.1 0.2 28
Michigan 11.9 11.0 -1.0 29
Nebraska 9.9 11.0 1.1 30
Illinois 11.5 10.9 -0.6 31
Kansas 12.7 10.9 -1.8 32
South Dakota 14.2 10.7 *-3.5 33
Oregon 11.8 10.6 -1.2 34
Connecticut 9.5 10.4 1.0 35
Montana 11.8 10.3 *-1.5 36
Rhode Island 11.6 10.1 -1.5 37
Virginia 11.1 10.1 -1.0 38
Massachusetts 10.6 10.0 -0.6 39
Hawaii 10.1 9.9 -0.2 40
Washington 11.2 9.7 -1.5 41
Vermont 10.2 9.2 -1.0 42
New Jersey 10.3 9.1 -1.2 43
Colorado 9.2 9.0 -0.2 44
Wisconsin 11.1 8.9 *-2.1 45
Iowa 10.1 8.2 *-1.8 46
Minnesota 8.2 8.2 0.0 47
Delaware 11.3 8.1 *-3.3 48
Maryland 8.4 7.8 -0.6 49
Utah 8.9 7.8 -1.1 50
New Hampshire 6.8 6.6 -0.2 51

*estimated

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

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