End of Pandemic-Era Benefits Resulted in Higher Three-Year Supplemental Poverty Rates From 2022 to 2024 Compared to the

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 national official poverty rate of 10.6% was 2.3 percentage points lower than the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) of 12.9% in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Poverty in the United States: 2024 report released today.

The official rate used in this analysis includes unrelated individuals under age 15 to enable direct comparisons with the SPM (referred to as official+ throughout the rest of this article).

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, the three-year average SPM rate (12.7%) topped the official+ rate (11.1%) from 2022 to 2024. The official+ rate used in this analysis includes unrelated individuals under age 15 to enable direct comparisons with the SPM.

Unlike the official poverty measure, the SPM also considers geographic variation in housing costs and tenure (whether one rents or owns their home with or without a mortgage) when calculating poverty thresholds.

An analysis of three-year averages of poverty rates by state shows the official+ rate was higher than the SPM rate in only 10 states — a notable change from 2023 when the three-year official+ average topped the SPM rate in 32 states.

This is largely due to the expiration of pandemic-era tax and noncash benefit program expansions, marking a return to pre-pandemic norms.

The two poverty measures provide distinct indicators of U.S. economic well-being.

The SPM broadens the official poverty measure by accounting for government programs designed to assist low-income families, federal and state taxes, and necessary expenses — factors the official measure excludes.

Unlike the official poverty measure, the SPM also considers geographic variation in housing costs and tenure (whether one rents or owns their home with or without a mortgage) when calculating poverty thresholds.

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