Are you below the poverty line? This is the income that is considered poverty level in 2025

As the cost of living continues to rise, with inflation increasing by half a percent in January, many are finding themselves much poorer, financially speaking, than they were just a few short years ago.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery prices have surged 28 percent since early 2019, gas prices have surged by more than a third over the same period, and renters are spending 31 percent more on their lease than they were six years ago. Though the rate at which prices are rising has slowed, consumers are still feeling the pinch of inflation in sectors where they have no choice but to spend, like housing, transportation, and food. Even when they have an alternative, like opting to take public transportation, they are facing prices around six percent higher than they would have in 2019.

Though poverty has increased by around half a percent since 2019, that low figure might have more to do with the metric used to determine the number, and not the financial hardship that has been rising for decades. The poverty line is established to determine the minimum income a person or household requires to fulfill their basic needs. However, that amount, the income necessary to satisfy one’s basic needs, varies across geographies and has been hotly debated.

The US Census Bureau is directed each year to establish a poverty threshold, but there is very little information accessible on what forms part of that calculation other than they increase as the family size increases and that if a family’s income falls under their corresponding threshold, they are to be “considered in poverty.”

In 2025, the poverty line for an individual in all US states but Alaska and Hawaii is $15,650.

A look at the most recent data available

In 2023, the US Census Bureau reported that around 36.8 million people, or roughly 11.1 percent of the population were living in poverty; up from 34 million in 2019.

The BLS’ Consumer Expenditure for 2023 found that around 27 million households had an income after taxes under $16,171 a year. If there are households within this group that are home to more than one person, which is highly probable, they likely live in poverty since the threshold increases close to $20,000 for two adults or one adult and one child.

Between 2019 and 2023, the 27 million poorest households saw their incomes after taxes rise from $12,236 to $16,171 a year.

In nominal terms, that equates to a 32 percent increase, but when accounting for inflation, which according to the Consumer Price Index rose 18 percent over the five years, the increase in income shrinks to 14 percent. The increase seen at the lowest end of the income spectrum represents only 10 percent of that obtained by the households in the highest quintile.

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