How does nativity relate to poverty status? Official data on foreign- and native-born
In 2024, the nation’s official poverty rate was 10.6%.
Poverty rates by nativity ranged from 10.2% to 12.9%.
The poverty rates by nativity were
10.2% for native born
12.9% for the foreign born (naturalized and non-citizens)
Another way to think about the relationship between poverty and
nativity is to look at how the distribution of people in poverty
by place of birth compares to that of the population as a whole.
By that measure, in 2024 the foreign-born comprise
a greater share of the population in poverty than their share of
the general population; while the native-born are
underrepresented.
Source:
U.S. Census Bureau.
Historical Poverty Tables: People and Families – 1959 to
2024. Emily A. Shrider and Christina Bijou Issued, Poverty
in the United States: 2025, U.S. Census Bureau, Current
Population Reports P60-287, (PDF)
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 2025. Accessed
12/17/2025
The official poverty statistics, which have been in use since the
1960s, calculate poverty status by comparing a family’s or
an individual’s cash income to their poverty threshold.
