This is a centralized repository of national, state, and local information pertaining to poverty and other forms of hardship in the United States. Here you’ll find information from multiple surveys on poverty and on difficulties paying for food, housing, and utility costs. The Coalition on Human Needs has formatted much of the data available from sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau to make the information as accessible for human needs advocates as possible. Where available we have also included breakdowns of the data by select demographics. We hope the information will be useful in your own work, and urge you to cite the data in your social media posts and communications with your elected officials.
Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2023 Kids Count Data Book
Includes links to narrative text, a focus on child care, auxiliary tables
Links to 50 State Data Profiles on Child Well-Being in English and Spanish
Household Pulse: Recent information on difficulty purchasing food, affording rent, and paying for utilities
Below, find select tables from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey Week 57, spanning April 26 – May 8, 2023. These tables have been modified by the Coalition on Human Needs to find percentages among respondents reporting need (leaving out non-respondents, as the Census Bureau recommends). To see the original tables, follow this link here.
A note of caution: some sample sizes, especially within states or metro areas, are too small to be reliable. If you see extreme shifts in the food comparisons for a small subset of the population, we would encourage you not to use those comparisons.
You can copy and paste from the tables below, but if you’d like to manipulate the data directly, you’ll need to download a copy of the table. We’ve provided a direct download link to an Excel version of each of these tables. To calculate percentages for other rows, add together the full range of responses (leaving out the numbers in the “Total” column and the “Did not report” column). For the Food 1 table, add together the cells for “sometimes” or “often” not having enough food. Divide that sum by the number in the “Total Reporting” cell and convert to a percentage.
If you’re having trouble seeing the tables we have provided, you may download the spreadsheets directly using the provided hyperlinks. If you are still having issues, or if you have any other questions, contact Nicolai Haddal: nhaddal@chn.org.
Note: Upon loading, it may be necessary to use the scrollbars on the right and bottom of the box to adjust your view.
Food Table 1, April 26 – May 8, 2023 (Week 57): Food Sufficiency for Households, in the Last 7 Days, by Select Characteristics
To find data for your state or metropolitan area in the table below, go to the bottom of the table to the row showing state abbreviations. Click the right arrow in the bottom left until you get to the state or metropolitan area you’d like to access; click on the state/metro area to pull up that table. For all tables, you can scroll down to see all the rows and/or use your keyboard directional arrows to see all the columns.
Download a copy of this table here.
Household Spending Table 1 April 26 – May 8, 2023 (Week 57): Difficulty Paying Usual Household Expenses in the Last 7 Days, by Select Characteristics
To find data for your state or metropolitan area in the table below, go to the bottom of the table to the row showing state abbreviations. Click the right arrow in the bottom left until you get to the state or metropolitan area you’d like to access; click on the state/metro area to pull up that table. For all tables, you can scroll down to see all the rows and/or use your keyboard directional arrows to see all the columns.
Download a copy of this table here.
Housing Table 1b April 26 – May 8, 2023 (Week 57): Last Month’s Payment Status for Renter-Occupied Housing Units, by Select Characteristics
To find data for your state or metropolitan area in the table below, go to the bottom of the table to the row showing state abbreviations. Click the right arrow in the bottom left until you get to the state or metropolitan area you’d like to access; click on the state/metro area to pull up that table. For all tables, you can scroll down to see all the rows and/or use your keyboard directional arrows to see all the columns.
Download a copy of this table here.
Housing Table 4 April 26 – May 8, 2023 (Week 57): Household Energy Use and Spending in the last 12 Months, by Select Characteristics
To find data for your state or metropolitan area in the table below, go to the bottom of the table to the row showing state abbreviations. Click the right arrow in the bottom left until you get to the state or metropolitan area you’d like to access; click on the state/metro area to pull up that table. For all tables, you can scroll down to see all the rows and/or use your keyboard directional arrows to see all the columns.
Download a copy of this table here.
Education Table 2 April 26 – May 8, 2023 (Week 57): Paying for Childcare and Cost in the Last 7 Days, by Select Characteristics
To find data for your state or metropolitan area in the table below, go to the bottom of the table to the row showing state abbreviations. Click the right arrow in the bottom left until you get to the state or metropolitan area you’d like to access; click on the state/metro area to pull up that table. For all tables, you can scroll down to see all the rows and/or use your keyboard directional arrows to see all the columns.
Download a copy of this table here.
Older Household Pulse Survey Releases
Comparisons Over Time
Change in those reporting sometimes or often not having enough to eat: August 4-30, 2021 vs July 27- Sept 26, 2022
This table compares the average of respondents reporting sometimes or often not having enough to eat in the previous week between two periods: August 4 – 30, 2021 (when most families with children were receiving the monthly Child Tax Credit), and July 27 – September 26, 2022 (after the CTC was discontinued and prices were rising). To find information for your state or metropolitan area, scroll down through the list. States are ordered first, followed by metropolitan areas.
Note: The numbers 35, 36, 48, and 49 in the table correspond to the following Census Household Pulse releases:
- Week 35: August 4 – 16, 2021
- Week 36: August 18 – 30, 2021
- Week 48: July 27 – August 8, 2022
- Week 49: September 14 – 26, 2022
Download a copy of this table here.
American Community Survey: Percentage of Households with Income Under $50,000 Paying Half or More of Their Income on Rent
The following table shows the percentage of households with incomes below $50,000 paying half or more of their income on rent. The data is available for all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These statistics are taken from the 2021 American Community Survey 1 year data, Table B25074.
In the table below, scroll down until you find your state. To view an original copy of this table that you can modify on your own, use the link here.
Webinar: CHN’s Guide to Using Census and Other Data to Track Poverty, Hardship and the Impact of Aid
Need a primer on the types of poverty data the Census Bureau releases annually in the American Community Survey and Current Population Survey? See a captioned recording of our most recent annual poverty data webinar here, and follow along using the slides here. Slides 50 and onward show you how to access the data online.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Reports on the harmful impacts of cuts
- Estimated Cuts in Discretionary Federal Aid Under McCarthy Bill ($ millions), 1 year and 10 year estimated dollar cuts by state
- Speaker McCarthy’s SNAP Proposal Would Take Food Away From Older Adults for Not Meeting Work Requirements Includes state table: SNAP Recipients in Each State Aged 50-55 Whose SNAP Benefits Could Be at Risk Under Speaker McCarthy’s Proposal
- TANF Provisions in McCarthy Bill Give States Incentives to Take Cash Benefits Away From Families With the Most Significant Needs See table 1 for state data: TANF Provisions in McCarthy Bill Would Put Many Families With Little or No Income at Risk of Losing Cash Assistance
- Republican Debt-Ceiling-and-Cuts Bill Would Cost States and Local Communities $1.3 Trillion
- Unemployment Insurance Bill More Likely to Hurt Than Help Anti-Fraud Efforts
Center for American Progress: Poverty Data Map Tool
The Center for American Progress has created an interactive map that you can use to explore more than a dozen topics that measure the health of the economy at the state and national levels. Topics include:
- Official poverty rate
- Child poverty rate
- High school graduation rate
- Unemployment rate
- Gender wage gap
- Children living apart from parents
- Teen birth rate
ZERO TO THREE: State of Babies Yearbook 2022
Learn how your state measures up on indicators related to good health, strong families, and positive early learning experiences.
The White House: State fact sheets
- State Fact Sheets: House Republican Funding Bills Would Have Devastating Impacts for Hard-Working Families Across America
State Fact Sheets: Impacts Extreme MAGA House Republicans’ Reckless Plan Would Have on Hard-Working Families - State Fact Sheets estimating the impact on states of cuts in annually appropriated programs similar to levels later proposed in the House-passed bill
- Biden White House, May 2: STATE FACT SHEETS: MAGA House Republicans’ Default on America Act Would Have Devastating Impacts Across America
Congressional Research Service
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: The Decline in Assistance Receipt Among Eligible Individuals See page 20 for a table containing estimated average family assistance receipt rate among eligible individuals and sampling error, by state
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- New HHS Analysis: Congressional Republicans’ Medicaid Red Tape Would Jeopardize Health Coverage and Access to Care for 21 Million Americans If Implemented (includes state and county breakdowns)
- For more information information on how many people in your state/county are at risk of losing coverage, visit:
- By state: Number of Medicaid beneficiaries with comprehensive benefits aged 19 – 55, excluding those eligible via a disability-, pregnancy-, or parent-related pathway in December 2022
- By county: Number of Medicaid beneficiaries with comprehensive benefits aged 19 – 55, excluding those eligible via a disability-, pregnancy-, or parent-related pathway in December 2022
National Association of State Budget Officers
Federal funding as percent of total state spending, FY22:
Related Resource Libraries
Poverty Resource Library
An expansive library of data on poverty, health insurance, income, housing burden, and more by state, congressional district, and major metropolitan area. You can also find links to partners’ resources, and official data release from the U.S. Census Bureau.