Supplemental Poverty Measure That Accounts For Additional Government Benefits Lowest on Record at 7.8%

DATA USER NOTE:

On July 17, 2026, the Bureau of Labor Statistics re-released SPM thresholds for 2019-2024 following the discovery of coding errors. The U.S. Census Bureau will publish revised SPM poverty rates using these updated thresholds prior to the release of the annual poverty report in September. Refer to BLS statement and Census statement for more information.

The U.S. official poverty rate was 11.6% in 2021, while the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) dipped to 7.8%, its lowest point on record, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released today.

Each year, the Census Bureau releases two poverty estimates to provide a snapshot of economic well-being in the United States: the official poverty measure and the SPM. In 2021, the official poverty rate was not statistically different from 2020. The 2021 SPM rate, however, was 1.4 percentage points lower.

The difference in estimates shows how taxes and noncash government programs can help lift more people out of poverty.

The official poverty measure defines resources as pretax money income, which includes income sources such as earnings and social insurance programs like Social Security PDF], [Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and unemployment benefits.

The total impact of government assistance using the SPM: 45.4 million fewer people in poverty in 2021.

The SPM expands this definition by including income and payroll taxes, tax credits, stimulus payments, other noncash government benefits like the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) and housing subsidies. Necessary expenses such as child support paid, work, child care and medical expenses are deducted.

As a result, it is possible to estimate the effect of government programs on each of the measures and compare how different benefits affect poverty rates.

The impact of these programs on the number of people in poverty in 2021 varies (Figure 1). Both measures are shown with consistent universes that include unrelated individuals under age 15.

When Social Security, SSI, and other social insurance programs are added to a family’s resources, the number of people lifted out of poverty using the SPM and official poverty measures is not statistically different: Approximately 25.6 million fewer people were in poverty using the SPM and 25.7 million fewer were in poverty using the official poverty measure. This would bring the number in poverty down to 38.9 million and 38.0 million for SPM and official poverty, respectively.

However, when the value of noncash benefits, taxes and tax credits were added to resources measured by SPM, the number in poverty dropped by half to 19.1 million.

The total impact of government assistance using the SPM: 45.4 million fewer people in poverty in 2021.

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