Kids Count Data Center

Definitions: The percentage of children younger than age 18 living in households with incomes below the federal poverty thresholds as reported by the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. The federal poverty threshold is calculated annually and differs according to the size and composition of the household.  Data reported for each year reflect income in the previous year.

Data Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division, Small Area Estimates Branch.  http://www.census.gov//did/www/saipe/

Footnotes: Data is for Calendar Year. 

Note that 1996 data is not available at the county level due to early collection of the data which skipped every other year.  Also of note, there is a break in the SAIPE time-series between 2004 and 2005 due to the switch from CPS ASEC to ACS data in SAIPE modeling. Comparisons across these particular years are not advised because of this break in series.  Please see the Small Area and Income Poverty Estimates website for more information: http://www.census.gov/did/www/saipe/methods/cautions.html

Note: Maps use the natural break classification method, which reflects patterns in the data by dividing the map into naturally occurring groups. Using statistical tools, this method determines cut-off points for each group by identifying large gaps in data values.