U.S. WELFARE STATISTICS

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Visit any of the links shown on this page to see income and welfare statistics, poverty levels by state, multi-purpose resume forms and other free printable items.

Below is a breakdown of poverty levels by U.S. state. The column on the right (%BPL) indicates the percentage of that state's population living at or below the "poverty line" as of 2008. This info was obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau website.

Poor health, substance abuse, and lack of education are the main causes of poverty in the United States. At least 13 percent of the current U.S. population lives in poverty. That's more than 38 million people.

Poverty thresholds do not vary from state to state, and the exact dollar amount of income they call "the poverty line" is determined through a rather complex equation.

The equation considers things like the total number of people in a household, the number of people in the household who are under 18, annual household income, and inflation.

However, the equation seems to presume that there IS a household, and it's unclear if and how the homeless are included in the data.

Just for the record, Washington DC (if it were a state) would rank poorly on the list, with 17.2 percent of its residents living in poverty in 2008.

....STATE ......................... % BPL

1.....NEW HAMPSHIRE ........................ 7.6

2.....MINNESOTA ............................... 9.6

3.....VERMONT .................................. 10.6

4.....NEW JERSEY .............................. 8.7

5.....HAWAII ..................................... 9.1

6.....VIRGINIA ................................... 10.2

7.....CONNECTICUT ............................ 9.3

8.....DELAWARE ................................. 10.0

9.....ALASKA ..................................... 8.4

10....MARYLAND ................................. 8.1

11....UTAH ........................................ 9.6

12....NEBRASKA .................................. 10.8

13....IDAHO ....................................... 12.6

14....WASHINGTON ............................. 11.3

15....WYOMING ................................. 9.4

16....COLORADO ................................ 11.4

17....NEVADA .................................... 11.3

18....MASSACHUSETTS ....................... 10.0

19....IOWA ....................................... 11.5

20....NORTH DAKOTA .......................... 12.0

21....WISCONSIN ............................... 10.4

22....PENNSYLVANIA ........................... 12.1

23....RHODE ISLAND ............................ 11.7

24....FLORIDA .................................... 13.2

25....ILLINOIS .................................... 12.2

26....MAINE ....................................... 12.3

27....INDIANA ..................................... 13.1

28....MISSOURI ................................... 13.4

29....OREGON ..................................... 13.6

30....OHIO .......................................... 13.4

31....SOUTH DAKOTA ............................ 12.5

32....KANSAS ...................................... 11.3

33....MICHIGAN .................................... 14.4

34....CALIFORNIA .................................. 13.3

35....GEORGIA ...................................... 14.7

36....SOUTH CAROLINA .......................... 15.7

37....MONTANA .................................... 14.8

38....NORTH CAROLINA .......................... 14.6

39....OKLAHOMA ................................... 15.9

40....NEW YORK .................................... 13.6

41....ARIZONA ...................................... 14.7

42....WEST VIRGINIA ............................. 17.0

43....TENNESSEE .................................. 15.5

44....ARKANSAS ................................... 17.3

45....ALABAMA .................................... 15.7

46....TEXAS ........................................ 15.8

47....KENTUCKY .................................... 17.3

48....NEW MEXICO ................................ 17.1

49....LOUISIANA ................................... 17.3

50....MISSISSIPPI ................................. 21.2

WAGES AND PRINTABLE RESUMES

EXIT WELFARE STATISTICS - SEE MAIN U.S. ECONOMY PAGE

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