Census Bureau: U.S. poverty rate lowest in 20 years

President Clinton attributes the decline in poverty to a course of fiscal discipline

Median income at record high

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The number of people in the United States living in poverty in 1999 dropped to its lowest level in 20 years, while the median household income last year reached a record high, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Two reports released on Tuesday showed that 11.8 percent of U.S. residents were living in poverty -- a nearly 1 point drop -- while the nation's median household income rose 2.7 percent to $40,816 per year, the highest level recorded by the bureau since data was first gathered in 1967.

The Census Bureau defines its annual poverty threshold for a family of four at $17,029.

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"The rising tide of the economy is lifting all boats," President Bill Clinton said Tuesday in trumpeting the new reports. "Every income group is seeing economic growth, with the greatest gains in percentage terms being made by the hardest-pressed Americans."

Racial gaps

But the 1999 data also showed a large gap between median incomes among racial groups. Non-Hispanic white households earned a median income of $44,366 while African-American households reported a median income of just $27,910. Hispanic households showed a median income of $30,735, according to the bureau.

Despite the racial income gaps, Clinton said increases in income among minority groups had increased significantly in 1999.

Daniel Weinberg, chief of the bureau's housing and household economics statistics division, said the drop in poverty was widespread among all groups.

"Every racial and ethnic group experienced a drop in both the number of poor and the percent in poverty, as did children, the elderly and people aged 25 to 44," Weinberg said.

According to the bureau's poverty report, 2.2 million fewer people were living in poverty in the United States in 1999 than in 1998.

Regional income

The income report's regional data showed that the median income level did not drop in any of the 50 states, while increasing in 14 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Wisconsin.

"Declines in poverty were concentrated in metropolitan areas, particularly central cities. And, on the income side, this was the fifth consecutive year that households experienced a real annual increase in income," said Weinberg.

Clinton, speaking in Washington, took credit for the positive numbers in the Census reports and promised similar results in the future.

"The most important thing we can say about our economy is that it works for working families," Clinton said. "Its success belongs to all the American people. If we stay on the path that got us here, the path of fiscal discipline, we can reach even greater heights of prosperity."

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US Census Bureau
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