How many Americans are living in poverty? What is the GDP per capita across the US?
How can the US standard of living be measured?
The standard of living in the United States is a measure of how well people and families are doing. It looks at things like how much money they make from wages and income, help they get from the government like Medicaid and unemployment insurance, how many people are living in poverty, and how much it costs to run a household. This page has important information that can help answer important questions and show how our standard of living is changing. By looking at the data provided, you can learn more about how things are changing and how it affects our quality of life.
What is the role of the government in standard of living?
USAFacts categorizes government budget data to allocate spending appropriately, and to arrive at the estimate presented here. Spending on standard of living, most notably with unemployment insurance, spiked during the pandemic.
Government revenue and expenditures are based on data from the Office of Management and Budget, the Census Bureau, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Each is published annually, although due to collection times, state and local government data are not as current as federal data. Thus, when combining federal, state, and local revenues and expenditures, the most recent year for a combined number may be delayed.
Focus | Key actors | Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
Income and taxes | Department of Labor, Congress | Set and enforce federal minimum wage |
Cash assistance | Department of Health and Human Services | Give block grants to fund Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF) |
Non-cash assistance and services (including medical benefits) | Department of Health and Human Services | Fund childcare assistance |
Focus |
|---|
Income and taxes |
Cash assistance |
Non-cash assistance and services (including medical benefits) |
How many Americans are living in poverty?
Families and individuals that are in the lower groups of earners may fall below the poverty threshold. The poverty threshold for a given household varies by the size of a family and age of its members. The thresholds are uniform in all states. These determinations are made and data is reported by the US Census Bureau.
What is the GDP per capita across the US?
Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is a commonly used measure for the standard of living. It’s reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), and it represents the total value of all goods and services produced in the US on a per-person basis if it were divided equally among all citizens.
While earned income and government transfers can give a rough idea of a household’s ability to spend and/or make ends meet, GDP per capita includes personal expenditures directly. However, it also includes government spending on things like infrastructure that contribute to a person’s standard of living. GDP is an everyday economic indicator that is estimated for all US states. The per capita estimate provides a straightforward geographical comparison to view the similarity in the standard of living across the country. For example, areas with higher GDP per capita might be more able to support higher wages and therefore a higher standard of living.
More on standard of living from USAFacts