Children in extreme poverty by race and ethnicity in the United States

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Definitions: The share of children under age 18 who live in families with incomes less than 50% of the federal poverty level by race and ethnicity.

The federal poverty definition consists of a series of thresholds based on family size and composition. In 2021, a 50% poverty threshold for a family of two adults and two children was $13,739. 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, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 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. 
A 90 percent confidence interval for each estimate can be found at Children in extreme poverty by race and ethnicity.