Which states have the highest poverty rates in 2023?

For a nation so rich, that the US has high poverty levels that will shock. In 2022, the official poverty rate was classed at 11.5 percent, a total of 37.9 million people. The poverty rate in each state is wildly different, influenced by historical trends, ethnic make up, and various other parameters that have played a role in the US’s entire history.

These figures are found with Official Poverty Measure (OPM). Developed in the early 1960s by Mollie Orshansky, an economist at the Social Security Administration, it is calculated by comparing pretax income against a threshold set at three times the cost of a minimum food diet in 1963. This has been increased with inflation data each year but has been criticised for not providing an accurate measure of poverty.

The largest factor in these poverty rates is where the state is located. Nine of the ten states with the highest poverty rates are in the south of the country. West Virginia is one of just three states that has seen poverty increase in the last ten years.

“Poverty and economic insecurity are widely common, very commonly experienced,” said Shailly Gupta Barnes, policy director at the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice. “They are as much a part of the American story as successes to the American dream.”

Why are the southern states so poor?

The main factor behind this is the legacy of slavery; all of these states relied on a plantation economy that heavily depended on slave labour. When slavery was dismantled, these states were left behind while the north experienced more rapid industrialization in the 19th and early 20th centuries

Educational opportunities play a crucial role in this economic slide. During the Jim Crow era, the late 19th century to mid-20th century, Southern states enforced racial segregation in schools through the infamous “separate but equal” doctrine. In reality, facilities and resources for African American schools were often far inferior to those for white schools. This lack of adequate education has entrenched poverty; the black population poverty rate is 17.1%, far higher than the overall national average.

Other factors affecting the whole country

Noted in discussions around poverty in the US is the inadequate social security system. 65 million people receive the social security benefit though on average it only provides around 37% of past earnings. This is far below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 51.8% and puts the US in the bottom third of developed countries. If retirement is not planned for properly then seniors will fall into poverty in the US.