The most common measure of poverty in the U.S. is the poverty threshold set by the U.S. government. This measure recognizes poverty as a lack of those goods and services commonly taken for granted by members of mainstream society. The official threshold is adjusted for inflation using the consumer price index.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States
For a household of two people the poverty threshold was set at 15,379 USD, for three people it was 18,850, and this dollar amount increases along with the number of people in a household until it reaches an amount of $49,021 for a household of nine people (these numbers vary for the amount of children under 18 in a home).
http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/us-poverty-rate-by-state.html
Louisiana has the highest poverty rate. The term ´poverty threshold´is used to refer to the dollar amount that a household needs to meet its needs. Any individuals or families whose pretax income falls below this dollar amount are considered to be ´poor´in the technical sense of the word.
http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/us-poverty-rate-by-state.html
Most Americans will spend at least one year below the poverty line at some point between ages 25 and 75. Poverty rates are persistently higher in rural and inner city parts of the country as compared to suburban areas. In 2009, 13.2% (39.8 million) Americans lived in poverty. Starting in the 1930s, relative poverty rates have consistently exceeded those of other wealthy nations. California has a poverty rate of 23.8%, the highest of any state in the country. This is updated from the November 2012 estimate of 23.6. In 2009 the number of people who were in poverty was approaching 1960s levels that led to the national War on Poverty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States
In 2014, Louisiana was the state with the highest rate of poverty in the United States, with 23.1% of its citizens living below the poverty threshold. By contrast, the state with the lowest poverty rate in the country was New Hampshire, with 7.2 % living below the poverty threshold.
http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/us-poverty-rate-by-state.html
Compounding its high rate of poverty, Louisiana has a particularly bad problem with income disparity across gender, with women´s average earnings being only two-thirds that of what men in Louisiana make. Additionally, the unemployment rate in Louisiana is 20% higher than the national average.
http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/us-poverty-rate-by-state.html
The Poor States. Many of the states with the highest rates of poverty in the USA are located in the country´s deep south, and these include West Virginia, Kentucky, and Louisiana.
http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/us-poverty-rate-by-state.html
There's not much good news for working Americans struggling to rebound from the recession, except perhaps this: the U.S. poverty rate is finally on the decline. The nation's poverty rate fell to 14.5% in 2013, down from 15% a year earlier, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday. This is the first statistically significant drop in poverty since 2006, when it was 12.3%. A lot of the decrease is coming from people finding full-time work -- and thus earning more money.
http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/16/news/economy/median-income-poverty-rate-down-census/index.html
Two groups saw significant decreases in their poverty rates. The number of children in poverty fell to 14.7 million, or 19.9%, down from 16.1 million, or 21.8%, the first decline since 2000. That's because many of their parents have now found full-time work.
http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/16/news/economy/median-income-poverty-rate-down-census/index.html
Eligibility for advance premium tax credits is determined by 2015 federal poverty guidelines for the remainder of the 2016 coverage year. State-run health insurance marketplaces will update their standards within the next couple months as well.
http://familiesusa.org/product/federal-poverty-guidelines
what is the u.s. poverty rate
The rate of poverty in the US is 14.5%. The Poverty rate in United States is 14.5 percent.