Fact Check: Did the U.S. Poverty Rate Hit an All-Time Low in 2025?
Claim: The official U.S. poverty rate reached a historic, all-time low in 2025.
Rating: True (with important context regarding measurement methods)
Context and Background
In September 2026, social media platforms widely circulated a video clip featuring former President Donald Trump discussing national economic figures. Online transcripts captured him stating:
“We have the best, I guess you could say poverty, they talk poverty. We have the best poverty numbers ever in the history of our country. In other words, there’s less poverty now than at any time in the history of our country.”
Footage from the official White House YouTube channel confirms that Trump made these remarks to reporters on September 27, 2026.
A spokesperson for the White House Press Office later clarified that Trump’s comments were based on a U.S. Census Bureau report released on September 16, 2026. According to that data, the Official Poverty Measure (OPM) rate for 2025 dropped to 10.2%—the lowest percentage recorded since the government began tracking poverty statistics in 1959.
This 2025 figure successfully surpassed the previous historical low of 10.5%, which was set in 2019. Because the Census Bureau’s annual reports evaluate full calendar years, the 2025 data primarily reflects the economic conditions spanning the first 11 months and 10 days of Trump’s second presidential term.
How the Official Poverty Measure Works
The Census Bureau calculates the official poverty rate by weighing a household’s pre-tax cash income against established poverty thresholds that vary by family size and composition.
- The Threshold: For example, a family of four consisting of two adults and two children under 18 is classified as living below the poverty line if their annual pre-tax income falls below $32,649.
- The Metrics: These thresholds are adjusted annually using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers to account for inflation and shifting costs of household goods and utilities. Counted income includes cash benefits like Social Security and child support, though it excludes non-cash assistance such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
- The Percentage: An official poverty rate of 10.2% indicates that approximately 10 out of every 100 people in the United States lived in a household falling below the applicable poverty threshold in 2025.
The Two Ways the Census Bureau Tracks Poverty
While the standard official poverty measure reached a record low, the U.S. Census Bureau also tracks a secondary metric known as the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). When evaluated through this lens, poverty rates did not experience statistically significant changes between 2024 and 2025, nor did they hit an all-time low.
Unlike the standard metric, the Supplemental Poverty Measure provides a broader economic view by factoring in:
- Non-cash government assistance (such as food stamps and housing subsidies).
- Necessary expenses like taxes, out-of-pocket medical costs, and work-related transit.
- Geographic variations in regional housing costs.
According to the 2025 poverty report, the supplemental poverty rate stood at 13.1%, showing no statistically meaningful shift from the previous year. Historical data for the SPM shows that it generally declined from 15.1% in 2009 down to a historic low of 7.8% in 2021, before rising again to 12% in 2022 and 13.1% by 2024.