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The federal poverty line is $25,100 in 48 states.
- Wage growth has been dismal for many American workers, despite signs of a strong economy.
- The federal poverty line in America is $25,100, except in Alaska and Hawaii, where it's $31,380 and $28,870, respectively.
- To better understand what it means to be "poor" in each state, we calculated the income it takes to be at the poverty level in every state based on buying power.
Wage growth has been dismal for many American workers, despite signs of a strong economy.
According to the United States Census Bureau, 12.3% of the US population is living in poverty, which means they're earning below $25,100, except in Alaska and Hawaii, where it's $31,380 and $28,870, respectively.
But cost of living varies from state to state, so in order to better understand what it means to be "poor" in each state, we used data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis that indicates how far $100 goes in each state, known as buying power. For example, a person in New York needs to spend $115.60 to get the same goods that a person in Delaware pays $100 for, whereas a Mississippi resident would pay $86.
Based on this buying power, we then calculated how much a family of four actually to needs to make to be at the poverty line. Based on the example above, a New York family earning $29,016 is considered to be at the poverty line, whereas the threshold for a Delaware or Mississippi family is lower - $25,677 and $21,686, respectively.
Below, see what's considered "poor" in every state, ranked from lowest to highest salary needed to be at the poverty line based on buying power.