50 Facts About The U.S. Economy That Will Shock You

[Bond]

Originally Posted by TheGame

Examples?

I'm pretty sure they're basing what they call 'poverty' off of that the federal government considers to be poverty which is essentially based on the price of living.

Sorry, I should have given what I said more than a one sentence explanation.

It is based off of what the federal government considers poverty, which is the problem. Let's say we have a family of four that makes $20,000. Would this family be impoverished if they lived in New York City? Certainly. What about in rural Texas? Perhaps not. You're looking at significant state income tax differences (Texas has no state income tax), sales tax differences, and general cost of livings differences. The problem is that the federal government has one number for poverty and low-income cutoffs, but that number is not created equal in every part of our country.