Aided by surging household incomes, the poverty rate in rural America fell to 13.5 percent, the lowest since 2019 and the second-lowest in two decades, said the Census Bureau on Tuesday. Rural conditions improved far more rapidly than did the country overall, according to the annual measurements of poverty and income.
The rural poverty rate dropped by 1.5 percent in 2023, compared to a 0.4 percent decline nationwide. Median rural household income leapt by 7.5 percent while U.S. household income rose by 4 percent.
Still, the rural poverty rate was higher than the U.S. rate of 11.1 percent, and median rural household income of $62,250 was well below the U.S. median of $80,610. Rural poverty rates have exceeded the U.S. average for years. Rural residents tend to be older, have less formal education, and earn lower incomes than people in cities and suburbs.
“Today’s reports show we are making real progress growing the middle class, with incomes up more than $3,000 last year and up since Vice President Harris and I took office, accounting for inflation,” said President Biden. He said Congress should expand the child tax credit, which was increased temporarily during the pandemic, as a way to reduce poverty.
Some 5.8 million rural Americans were in poverty in 2023, compared to 6.5 million the previous year, estimated the Census Bureau. The poverty rate for a family of four was $30,900 in 2023. Nationwide, 36.7 million people were in poverty.
Median farm household income has exceeded median U.S. household income annually since 1998, said the USDA. Its Economic Research Service estimates median incomes of $99,863 this year, a modest increase from 2023, although so-called commercial farms with full-time operators would see a nearly 16 percent drop in median income, to $219,358 , due to sharply lower agricultural revenue. Many farm households rely heavily on off-farm earnings. Half of the 1.89 million U.S. farms are “residence” farms with small amounts of land.
The last time the rural poverty rate was below 14 percent was 13.3 percent in 2019 and 13.4 percent in 2000, according to Census Bureau data.