Low-income working families with children in the United States

Definitions: The share of families that met three criteria: (1) the family income was less than twice the federal poverty level; (2) at least one parent worked 50 or more weeks during the previous year; (3) there was at least one "own child" under age 18 in the family.

The federal poverty definition consists of a series of thresholds based on family size and composition. In 2019, a 200% poverty threshold for a family of two adults and two children was $51,853. Poverty status is not determined for people in military barracks, institutional quarters, or for unrelated individuals under age 15 (such as foster children).

Data Source: Population Reference Bureau, analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 - 2019, 2021 American Community Survey.

Footnotes: Updated November 2022.
S - Estimates suppressed when the confidence interval around the percentage is greater than or equal to 10 percentage points. 
N.A. – Data not available. 
Data are provided for the 50 most populous cities according to the most recent Census counts. Cities for which data is collected may change over time. 
A 90 percent confidence interval for each estimate can be found at Low-income working families with children.

Definitions: The share of families that met three criteria: (1) the family income was less than twice the federal poverty level; (2) at least one parent worked 50 or more weeks during the previous year; (3) there was at least one "own child" under age 18 in the family.

The federal poverty definition consists of a series of thresholds based on family size and composition. In 2019, a 200% poverty threshold for a family of two adults and two children was $51,853. Poverty status is not determined for people in military barracks, institutional quarters, or for unrelated individuals under age 15 (such as foster children).

Data Source: Population Reference Bureau, analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 - 2019, 2021 American Community Survey.

Footnotes: Updated November 2022.
S - Estimates suppressed when the confidence interval around the percentage is greater than or equal to 10 percentage points. 
N.A. – Data not available. 
Data are provided for the 50 most populous cities according to the most recent Census counts. Cities for which data is collected may change over time. 
A 90 percent confidence interval for each estimate can be found at Low-income working families with children.