The Black poverty rate just hit a record low
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The official poverty rate for Black Americans declined to 17.1% in 2022, the lowest on record dating back to 1959, according to Census data released Tuesday.
In the weeds: The so-called official rate is different from what's known as the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which takes into account government benefits like pandemic-era aid and SNAP.
- Not surprisingly, that supplemental measure spiked in 2022 as pandemic-era aid rolled off.
The big picture: By the official measure, overall poverty in the U.S. held flat at 11.5% — with 37.9 million people in poverty.
Reality check: Poverty rates for Black Americans are substantially higher than for white non-Hispanic Americans (8.6%) and Asian Americans (8.6%), although there's a wide income disparity within the latter group.
