U.S. Census Bureau: Over 48 Million Americans Living in Poverty

The U.S. Census Bureau this month released a supplemental report on the number of Americans living in poverty, following up on its September report, "Income and Poverty in the United States: 2013".

From the Census Bureau:

The nation’s poverty rate was 15.5 percent in 2013, down from 16.0 percent in 2012, according to the supplemental poverty measure released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. The 2013 rate was higher than the official measure of 14.5 percent, but similarly declined from the corresponding rate in 2012.

Meanwhile, 48.7 million were below the poverty line in 2013 according to the supplemental poverty measure, not statistically different from the number in 2012. In 2013, 45.3 million were poor using the official definition released last month in Income and Poverty in the United States: 2013.

Click here for more on the supplemental measure and how it differes from the official measure. Click the link below to download the supplemental report.

Curious as to how the poverty level is measured? Check out this handy infographic for more.