What is the poverty rate in Texas?
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The poverty rate was about 12.7% of Texas’s population as of 2025. The poverty rate is the percentage of people whose household income falls below the poverty threshold set by the government. It measures the percentage of people in households that don’t earn enough to pay for basic needs like food, housing, and healthcare. In 2025, 3.94 million people in Texas were considered in poverty.
12.7%
of the population (2025)
3.94M
people living under the poverty line (2025)
The state's poverty rate was 12.7% in 2025, the lowest based on data from the American Community Survey dating back to 2010. It was 0.7 percentage points lower than the previous year. Texas's poverty rate hit a peak in 2011 of 18.5%.
In 2025, 12.7% of Texas's population were living under the poverty line.
Poverty rate, 2010–2025
While the poverty rate shows the overall trend, the total number matters because many aid programs and funding decisions are based on how many people are in poverty, not just the percentage. In 2025, 3.94M people living in Texas were in poverty — down 14.8% from the 2011 peak of 4.63M.
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In 2025, 3.94M people in Texas were in poverty.
People living under poverty line, 2010–2025
Poverty doesn’t affect all groups equally. Rates vary widely by demographic group, family type and location.
What is the child poverty rate in Texas?
From 2015 to 2025, the poverty rate for children under 18 in Texas decreased from 23% to 16.7%. During the same period, the poverty rate for adults under 65 years decreased from 13.8% to 11.2%. For those older than 65, the poverty rate increased from 10.3% to 12.2%.
In 2025, 16.7% of children in Texas were living under the poverty line.
Poverty rate by age group, 2015–2025
How does poverty differ by race in Texas?
Among racial or ethnic groups in Texas during 2025, four had a higher poverty rate than the state’s overall rate: Black or African American; Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race); some other race; and two or more races
Four had a lower than average poverty rate: American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, White alone, not Hispanic or Latino.
Over the previous ten years, the poverty rate for the American Indian and Alaska Native population shifted the most, decreasing from 20.5% in 2015 to 11.6% in 2025.
In Texas, the poverty rate for the American Indian and Alaska Native population decreased from 20.5% in 2015 to 11.6% in 2025.
Poverty rate by race or ethnicity, 2015–2025
What counties in Texas have the highest and lowest poverty rates?
In 2020–2024, the poverty rate among Texas counties ranged from 4% in Rockwall County to 41.1% in Dimmit County. The poverty rate in the state’s largest county — Harris County — was 16.3%
In 2020-2024, the poverty rate among Texas counties ranged from 4.0% to 41.1%.
Poverty rate
Poverty rate, by county (2024)
| 1. | Dimmit County | 41.1% |
| 2. | Zapata County | 38.4% |
| 3. | Zavala County | 33.9% |
| 4. | Starr County | 33.5% |
| 5. | Duval County | 33.3% |
| 6. | Presidio County | 32.0% |
| 7. | Edwards County | 31.9% |
| 8. | Jim Hogg County | 31.4% |
| 9. | Swisher County | 30.1% |
| 10. | Kleberg County | 28.1% |
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Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
Page sources
USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.
