Working Poor

The Working Poor data tables present annual data on individuals and families who spend at least 27 weeks in the labor force—working or looking for work—but whose incomes fall below the official poverty threshold, as determined by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The tables highlight long-term trends, demographic differences that contribute to poverty among people who participate in the labor force, and labor-market factors associated with poverty among various groups of workers.

Latest data: The Working Poor data tables

• Table 1. People ages 16 and older in the labor force: poverty status and work experience by weeks in the labor force, 2024 (XLSX)
• Table 2. People in the labor force for 27 weeks or more: poverty status by age, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity, 2024 (XLSX)
• Table 3. People in the labor force for 27 weeks or more: poverty status by educational attainment, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, 2024 (XLSX )
• Table 4. People in the labor force for 27 weeks or more who worked during the year: poverty status by occupation of longest job held, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, 2024 (XLSX)
• Table 5. Primary families: poverty status, presence of related children, and work experience of family members in the labor force for 27 weeks or more, 2024 (XLSX)
• Table 6. People in families and unrelated individuals: poverty status and work experience, 2024 (XLSX)
• Table 7. Unrelated individuals in the labor force for 27 weeks or more: poverty status by age, sex, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and living arrangement, 2024 (XLSX)
• Table 8. People in the labor force for 27 weeks or more: poverty status and labor market problems of full-time wage and salary workers, 2024 (XLSX)

Working Poor report historical archive

Looking for additional analysis?

• Search the TED: The Economics Daily for poverty or working poor.
• Read The Working Poor in 2001 article.

Technical Notes

The data presented in this report were collected in the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS). Conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the CPS is a monthly sample survey of about 60,000 eligible households. Data from the CPS are used to obtain monthly estimates of the nation’s employment and unemployment levels. The ASEC, conducted in the months of February through April, includes questions about work activity and income during the previous calendar year. Data collected refers to the prior calendar year.

Estimates in this report are based on a sample and, consequently, may differ from estimates that would have been obtained from a complete count using the same questionnaire and procedures. Sampling variability may be relatively large in cases where the numbers are small. Thus, both small estimates and small differences between estimates should be interpreted with caution. For a detailed explanation of the ASEC supplement to the CPS, its sampling variability, more extensive definitions than those provided here, and additional information about poverty measures, see Poverty in the United States by the Census Bureau www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty.html>.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services or the information voice phone at (202) 691-5200.

For more information on the data provided in this report, contact the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Division of Labor Force Statistics. Email: cpsinfo@bls.gov; Telephone: (202) 691-6378. This article is in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission.

Comparability of Estimates

Population controls are independent estimates of population used to weight the CPS sample results to reflect the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and older.

The U.S. Census Bureau develops the CPS population controls. They are based on the latest decennial census population count, supplemented with birth and death data and estimates of net international migration. The population estimation methodology is available on the Census Bureau's website.

The Census Bureau adjusts the CPS population controls each year to include the latest information about population change and to incorporate any improvements in the estimation methodology. Following a decennial census, a new population base is introduced along with the adjustments.

BLS incorporates the annual population control adjustments into the CPS estimates with data for January.

The adjustments may increase or decrease the population level, depending on whether the latest information indicates the population estimates had trended high or low. Conceptually, the effects of the annual population control adjustments represent cumulative over- or under-estimation of the population since the last decennial census point.

See Adjustments to Household Survey Population Estimates for a description of the latest population control adjustments to the CPS, and a supplemental table with the latest adjustment effects.

Concepts and definitions

Poverty classification statistics presented in this report are based on definitions developed by the Social Security Administration in 1964 and revised by federal interagency committees in 1969 and 1981. These definitions originally were based on the Department of Agriculture’s Economy Food Plan and reflected the different consumption requirements of families based on factors such as family size and the number of children under 18 years of age. Poverty thresholds are updated each year to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). Thresholds do not vary geographically. For more information, see Census Bureau Poverty Thresholds.

The low-earnings level, as first developed in 1987, represented the average of the real value of the minimum wage between 1967 and 1987 for a 40-hour workweek. The year 1967 was chosen as the base year because that was the first year in which minimum-wage legislation covered essentially the same broad group of workers that currently is covered. The low-earnings level has been adjusted each year since then in accordance with the CPI-U, so the measure maintains the same real value that it held in 1987. For a complete definition, see Bruce W. Klein and Philip L. Rones, “A profile of the working poor,” Monthly Labor Review, October 1989, 3–11.

Data on income are limited to money income—before personal income taxes and payroll deductions—received in the calendar year preceding the CPS supplement. Data on income do not include the value of noncash benefits, such as food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, public housing, and employer-provided benefits.

The labor force refers to people who worked or looked for work sometime during the calendar year. The number of weeks in the labor force is accumulated over the entire year. The focus in this report is on people who were in the labor force for 27 weeks or more.

The working poor are people who spent at least 27 weeks in the labor force (that is, working or looking for work) but whose incomes still fell below the official poverty level.

The working-poor rate is the number of individuals in the labor force for at least 27 weeks whose incomes still fell below the official poverty level, as a percentage of all people who were in the labor force for at least 27 weeks during the calendar year.

Involuntary part-time workers are people who, during at least 1 week of the year, worked fewer than 35 hours because of slack work, unfavorable business conditions, or because they could not find full-time work. The number of weeks of involuntary part-time work is accumulated over the year.

Occupation refers to the job in which a person worked the most weeks during the calendar year.

Unemployed people are those who looked for work while not employed or those who were on layoff from a job and were expecting to be recalled to that job. The number of weeks unemployed is accumulated over the entire year.

The householder is the family reference person. This is the person, or one of the people, in whose name the housing unit is owned or rented. The relationships of the other individuals in the household are defined in terms of their relationships to the householder. The race or Hispanic ethnicity of the family is determined by that of the householder.

A family is a group of two or more people residing together who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption; all such people are considered members of one family. Families include those with or without children under 18 years old. The count of families is for “primary” families only. A primary family consists of a householder and all other people related to and residing with the householder. Sub-families are excluded from the count of families. A sub-family is a family that does not maintain its own household, but lives in the home of someone else. Family status is determined at the time of the survey interview and, thus, may be different from that of the previous year. Families are further categorized as follows:

Beginning in 2018, there was a change in the definition of marital status. For more information about this change and how it affected comparability over time, see the Comparability of estimates section.

Unrelated individuals refers to people who are not living with anyone related to them by birth, marriage, or adoption. Such individuals may live alone or live with other individuals to whom they may not be related. Beginning in 2018, estimates for unrelated individuals may not be comparable to those from prior years because of the change in the definition of marital status.

Related children refer to children under age 18 who are living in the household and are related to the householder. Included are own children (sons, daughters, stepchildren, and adopted children) of the husband, wife, or person maintaining the family, as well as other children related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. Beginning in 2018, estimates for related children may not be comparable to those from prior years because of the change in the definition of marital status.

Race is reported by the household respondent. White, Black or African American, and Asian are categories used to describe the race of people. People in these categories are those who selected that race group only. Data for the two remaining race categories—American Indian and Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander—and for people who selected more than one race category are included in totals but are not shown separately because the number of survey respondents is too small to develop estimates of sufficient quality for publication.

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity refers to people who identified themselves in the survey as being of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish ethnicity. People whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.

Related content

• Learn more about corrections to some estimates for the 2002–2012 Working Poor reports.
• From the U.S. Census Bureau, learn more about poverty definitions, thresholds, and other poverty and income data.

Last Modified Date: October 21, 2026