Topic 1: How do I determine urban/rural poverty areas for my state?

The Census Bureau provides information on the percent of persons in poverty by county/state. Following is a step-by-step process to get that information.

  • Go to https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/saipe.html
  • Click on ‘State and County estimates (data) for 2018’
  • Select a state or download the excel file “US and All States and Counties”
  • In the section ‘Select variable(s) from the list below:’ select ‘All ages in poverty’

Example:

  • Provide screen shot of website & where to click
  • Provide screen shot of state selection
  • Provide screen shot of the “All ages in poverty” selection

You will find a chart of each county in the state you selected. The column Percent shows the percentage of all people in poverty by county. (Urban and Rural poverty threshold is 20% or greater).

  • IMPORTANT: The percentile must be 20.0% or higher – there is no rounding up – for example 19.8% would not be a declared poverty area because it was not 20.0 as a minimum.

Selecting the correct status chart           

Make sure to select the correct status chart for the appropriate grant award year.

Typically, the status chart runs 2 years behind the federal fiscal year.

EXAMPLE:

For the federal fiscal year 2020  –2020 – select the 2018 status chart

For the federal fiscal year 2019 – select the 2017 status chart