Counties with the highest poverty rate in each state 2022

In a recent Forbes article, we looked at the poverty rate in the United States in terms of the 10 counties with the highest poverty rate and the 10 counties with the lowest poverty rate. At the national level, according to the latest data from the US Census Bureau, namely the American Community Survey 2019, 5-Year Estimates, the poverty rate in the United States is 13.4%. This means that 13.4% of the national population lives below the poverty line. This equates to more than approximately 42.5 million Americans living below the poverty line.

This time around, we’re looking at the counties in the 50 states that have the highest level of poverty. Counties were chosen by those with the highest percentage of households living below the poverty line. Read on to find out which county has the highest poverty rate by state.

10 counties with the highest poverty rate by state

When looking at counties by poverty rate, some counties have seen improvement over the years while others have only worsened in impoverishment. In 20 of the poorest counties, the poverty rate has worsened over the past five years.

Here are the 10 counties with the highest poverty rate by state:

Todd County, South Dakota

• Poverty rate 2019: 55.5%
• Poverty rate 2014: 46.7%
• Change over 5 years: 8.8%

East Carroll Parish, Louisiana

• Poverty rate 2019: 44.6%
• Poverty rate 2014: 46.6%
• Change over 5 years: -2%

Holmes County, Mississippi

• Poverty rate 2019: 42.4%
• Poverty rate 2014: 43.9%
• Change over 5 years: -1.5%

Brooks County, Texas

• Poverty rate 2019: 41.4%
• Poverty rate 2014: 36%
• Change over 5 years: 5.4%

Clinch County, Georgia

• Poverty rate 2019: 40.2%
• Poverty rate 2014: 34.6%
• Change over 5 years: 5.6%

Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska

• Poverty rate 2019: 39%
• Poverty rate 2014: N / A
• Change over 5 years: N / A

Sioux County, North Dakota

• Poverty rate 2019: 38.2%
• Poverty rate 2014: 36.4%
• Change over 5 years: 1.8%

Greene County, Alabama

• Poverty rate 2019: 38.1%
• Poverty rate 2014: 36.6%
• Change over 5 years: 1.5%

Leslie County, Kentucky

• Poverty rate 2019: 38%
• Poverty rate 2014: 23.9%
• Change over 5 years: 14.1%

Apache County, Arizona

• Poverty rate 2019: 35.5%
• Poverty rate 2014: 35.9%
• Change over 5 years: -0.4%

50 counties with the highest poverty rate by state

Below is a table that contains each county with the highest poverty level in all 50 states, for 2019 and 2014, and the five-year change.