Rate Of Hispanic Poverty In America Fell To Record Low 18.3%, Overall Poor Americans Declined

The rate of poverty among Hispanic people fell to 18.3 percent in 2017 – the lowest number since government officials started tracking the data in 1972, according to new U.S. Census data. 

The year-on-year decrease of 1.1 percent in 2017 was also the largest single decline that the Hispanic population – of all races – has ever experienced. 

The rate of poverty among all Americans declined slightly in 2017 to 12.3 percent, the third year in a row that the numbers have gone down, though Census officials said the year-on-year decline wasn’t statistically significant. 

While fewer Hispanics are now considered poor, they continue to be disproportionately impoverished given how much of the overall population they represent. 

Hispanics make up 18.3 percent of the U.S. population, yet account for 27.2 percent of people living in poverty in America. By comparison, white people are 60.5 percent of the U.S. population and account for 42.8 percent of the people living in poverty. 

Black Americans account for 13.2 percent of the population but 22.7 percent of all Americans living in poverty, while Asians in America make up 6 percent of the population and 4.9 percent live in poverty.

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