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Poverty Guidelines - Federal

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issues new Federal Poverty Guidelines every year, usually in January or February. These guidelines are commonly (yet ambiguously) referred to as the "Federal Poverty Level" (FPL), and serve as one of the indicators for determining eligibility in a wide variety of Federal and State programs.

Section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) requires the Secretary of HHS to update the poverty guidelines at least annually, adjusting them on the basis of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). New guidelines become effective as of the date of publication in the Federal Register.

Current (2012) guidelines are shown in the Current Guidelines section below.

Guidelines from previous years (2011-1998) may be found below in the section labeled Poverty Guidelines from Previous Years.

Background information about the poverty guidelines and related poverty thresholds is in the section labeled General Information about Poverty Measures.

See the Additional Information section for links to extensive resources about poverty measures.

Current Guidelines

2014 HHS Poverty Guidelines

2013 HHS Poverty Guidelines

2012 HHS Poverty Guidelines

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 17, January 26, 2012, pp. 4034-4035.

General Information about Poverty Measures

The poverty guidelines are frequently loosely referred to as the "Federal Poverty Level" (FPL), but that phrase is ambiguous and should be avoided, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, especially in situations where precision is important.

The poverty thresholds are another, different, version of the federal poverty measure and should not be confused with these poverty guidelines. The thresholds are updated each year by the Census Bureau and are used mainly for statistical purposes such as preparing estimates of the number of Americans in poverty each year. More information about the poverty thresholds is available online at: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/threshld.html.

The separate poverty guidelines for Alaska and Hawaii reflect Office of Economic Opportunity administrative practice beginning in the 1966-1970 period. Note that the poverty thresholds -- the original version of the poverty measure -- have never had separate figures for Alaska and Hawaii.

The poverty guidelines apply to both aged and non-aged units. The guidelines have never had an aged/non-aged distinction; only the Census Bureau (statistical) poverty thresholds have separate figures for aged and non-aged one-person and two-person units.

The poverty guidelines are not defined for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau. In cases in which a Federal program using the poverty guidelines serves any of those jurisdictions, the Federal office which administers the program is responsible for deciding whether to use the contiguous-states-and-D.C. guidelines for those jurisdictions or to follow some other procedure.

Programs using the guidelines (or percentage multiples of the guidelines -- for instance, 125 percent or 185 percent of the guidelines) in determining eligibility include Head Start, the Food Stamp Program, the National School Lunch Program, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Note that in general, cash public assistance programs (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and its predecessor Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and Supplemental Security Income) do NOT use the poverty guidelines in determining eligibility. The Earned Income Tax Credit program also does NOT use the poverty guidelines to determine eligibility.

Also note that the Workforce Incentive Act (WIA), under certain conditions, allows these guidelines to be substituted for its own guidelines. Additional information about the WIA Lower Living Standard Income Level (LLSIL) is available in the Lower Living Standard Income Level (LLSIL) Guidelines - Overview topic.

Additional Information

More information, links, contacts, and references on the Poverty Guidelines, the Poverty Thresholds, and the development and history of U.S. poverty measures is available online at:
http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/contacts.shtml

Poverty Guidelines from Previous Years

The tables below from previous years are provided for comparison purposes of WorkWORLD users. You may scroll down in reverse chronological order (newest years first) or jump directly to a specific year by selecting one of the links below:

2011 HHS Poverty Guidelines

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 13, January 20, 2011, pp. 3637-3638.

NOTE: Tables containing various percentage multiples (i.e., 100%, 120%, 133%, etc.) of the 2011 poverty guidelines commonly used in Federal and State programs are available internally from the link below. These tables from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services include both monthly and annual amounts for various family sizes. The tables are in PDF format, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. Click the Help window Back button to return here when finished.
Note that unlike similar files from previous years, this is a single file that contains three pages, one for All States and D.C, one for Alaska, and one for Hawaii. Be certain you are on the correct page for your state when using these tables.
· 2011 All States (Except Alaska and Hawaii) and DC, Alaska, and Hawaii

NOTE: Delayed Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines for 2010

For the first time since the poverty guidelines began to be issued in 1965, the annual average Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) has decreased from the figure for the previous year. In the absence of legislative change, the decrease in the annual average CPI-U for 2009 announced on January 15, 2010 (see http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf, Table 1A) would have required HHS to issue 2010 poverty guidelines that were lower than the 2009 poverty guidelines, which would have led to the "reduction in eligibility" referred to in the Congressional explanatory language.

Congress took several actions on this matter:

1. On December 19, 2009, the President signed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-118), which included a provision affecting the poverty guidelines. Section 1012 of the law states that:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall not publish updated poverty guidelines for 2010 under section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) before March 1, 2010, and the poverty guidelines published under such section on January 23, 2009, shall remain in effect until updated poverty guidelines are published.

The Congressional Record (House) (December 16, 2009, p. H15370) provides the following explanation of Congressional action:
Section 1012 includes a provision to freeze the Department of Health and Human Services poverty guidelines at 2009 levels in order to prevent a reduction in eligibility for certain means-tested programs, including Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and child nutrition, through March 1, 2010.

A Federal Register notice about this extension of the 2009 poverty guidelines was published on January 22, 2010. (See Federal Register, Vol. 75, No. 14, January 22, 2010, pp. 3734-3735.).

2. On March 2, 2010, the Congress enacted and the President signed the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-144), which included a provision affecting the poverty guidelines. Section 7 of this law amended Section 1012 of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010, by replacing "March 1, 2010" with "March 31, 2010". The effect of this was to extend the 2009 poverty guidelines until at least March 31, 2010.

3. On April 15, 2010, the Congress enacted and the President signed the Continuing Extension Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-157), which included a provision affecting the poverty guidelines. Section 6 of this law amended Section 1012 of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 (as amended by Pub. L. 111-144), by replacing "March 31, 2010" with "May 31, 2010". The effect of this was to extend the 2009 poverty guidelines until at least May 31, 2010.

Legislation to further delay the publication of the 2010 poverty guidelines beyond May 31, 2010, did not pass Congress. Accordingly, HHS published poverty guidelines for the remainder of 2010 in August 2010. These 2010 guidelines will remain in effect until HHS publishes the 2011 poverty guidelines, which is expected to occur in late January 2011.

If HHS had published the 2010 poverty guidelines in late January 2010, on the normal schedule, the update would have been based on the 2008 Census Bureau poverty thresholds and the percentage change in the annual average CPI-U from calendar year 2008 to calendar year 2009 (the period from January through December 2009). Since the publication of the 2010 poverty guidelines was delayed through May 31, 2010, HHS based this update on the 2008 Census Bureau poverty thresholds--which remain the most recent published thresholds available--and the percentage change in the average CPI-U from calendar year 2008 to the period beginning with January 2009 and ending on May 31, 2010.

The average CPI-U for the January 2009-May 2010 period was 0.042 percent higher than the annual average CPI-U for calendar year 2008. (The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 requires that the starting point for the update of the poverty guidelines shall be the latest published Census Bureau poverty thresholds, rather than the previous HHS poverty guidelines.) The percentage increase in the CPI-U was so small that after the rounding procedures used in the guidelines calculation, the guidelines for the remainder of 2010 showed no change from the 2009 guidelines.

The poverty guidelines are calculated each year using the latest published Census Bureau poverty thresholds as the starting point. They are not calculated from the previous year's poverty guidelines. As a result, the level of next year's poverty guidelines--the 2011 guidelines--will not be affected by the way in which these 2010 poverty guidelines were calculated.

2010 HHS Poverty Guidelines

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 75, No. 148, August 3, 2010, pp. 45628-45629.

NOTE: Tables containing various percentage multiples (i.e., 100%, 120%, 133%, etc.) of the 2010 poverty guidelines commonly used in Federal and State programs are available internally from the link below. These tables from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services include both monthly and annual amounts for various family sizes. The tables are in PDF format, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. Click the Help window Back button to return here when finished.
Note that unlike similar files from previous years, this is a single file that contains three pages, one for All States and D.C, one for Alaska, and one for Hawaii. Be certain you are on the correct page for your state when using these tables.
· 2010 All States (Except Alaska and Hawaii) and DC, Alaska, and Hawaii

2009 HHS Poverty Guidelines

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 74, No. 14, January 23, 2009, pp. 4199-4201.

NOTE: Tables containing various percentage multiples (i.e., 100%, 120%, 133%, etc.) of the 2009 poverty guidelines commonly used in Federal and State programs are available internally from the link below. These tables from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services include both monthly and annual amounts for various family sizes. The tables are in PDF format, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. Click the Help window Back button to return here when finished.
Note that unlike similar files from previous years, this is a single file that contains three pages, one for All States and D.C, one for Alaska, and one for Hawaii. Be certain you are on the correct page for your state when using these tables.
· 2009 All States (Except Alaska and Hawaii) and DC, Alaska, and Hawaii

2008 HHS Poverty Guidelines

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 73, No. 15, January 23, 2008, pp. 3971-3972.

NOTE: Tables containing various percentage multiples (i.e., 100%, 120%, 133%, etc.) of the 2008 poverty guidelines commonly used in Federal and State programs are available internally from the link below. These tables from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services include both monthly and annual amounts for various family sizes. The tables are in PDF format, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. Click the Help window Back button to return here when finished.
Note that unlike similar files from previous years, this is a single file that contains three pages, one for All States and D.C, one for Alaska, and one for Hawaii. Be certain you are on the correct page for your state when using these tables.
· 2008 All States (Except Alaska and Hawaii) and DC, Alaska, and Hawaii

2007 HHS Poverty Guidelines

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 72, No. 15, January 24, 2007, pp. 3147-3148.

NOTE: Tables containing various percentage multiples (i.e., 100%, 120%, 133%, etc.) of the 2007 poverty guidelines commonly used in Federal and State programs are available internally from the link below. These tables from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services include both monthly and annual amounts for various family sizes. The tables are in PDF format, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. Click the Help window Back button to return here when finished.
Note that unlike similar files from previous years, this is a single file that contains three pages, one for All States and D.C, one for Alaska, and one for Hawaii. Be certain you are on the correct page for your state when using these tables.
· 2007 All States (Except Alaska and Hawaii) and DC, Alaska, and Hawaii

2006 HHS Poverty Guidelines

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 71, No. 15, January 24, 2006, pp. 3848-3849.

NOTE: Tables containing various percentage multiples (i.e., 100%, 120%, 133%, etc.) of the 2006 poverty guidelines commonly used in Federal and State programs are available internally from the link below. These tables from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services include both monthly and annual amounts for various family sizes. The tables are in PDF format, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. Click the Help window Back button to return here when finished.
Note that unlike similar files from previous years, this is a single file that contains three pages, one for All States and D.C, one for Alaska, and one for Hawaii. Be certain you are on the correct page for your state when using these tables.
· 2006 All States (Except Alaska and Hawaii) and DC, Alaska, and Hawaii

2005 HHS Poverty Guidelines

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 70, No. 33, February 18, 2005, pp. 8373-8375.

NOTE: Tables containing various percentage multiples (i.e., 100%, 120%, 133%, etc.) of the 2005 poverty guidelines commonly used in Federal and State programs are available internally from the links below. These tables from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services include both monthly and annual amounts for various family sizes. The tables are in PDF format, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. Click the Help window Back button to return here when finished.
· 2005 All States (Except Alaska and Hawaii) and DC
· 2005 Alaska
· 2005 Hawaii

2004 HHS Poverty Guidelines

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 69, No. 30, February 13, 2004, pp. 7336-7338.

NOTE: Tables containing various percentage multiples (i.e., 100%, 120%, 133%, etc.) of the 2004 poverty guidelines commonly used in Federal and State programs are available internally from the links below. These tables from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services include both monthly and annual amounts for various family sizes. The tables are in PDF format, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. Click the Help window Back button to return here when finished.
· 2004 All States (Except Alaska and Hawaii) and DC
· 2004 Alaska
· 2004 Hawaii

2003 HHS Poverty Guidelines

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 68, No. 26, February 7, 2003, pp. 6456-6458.

NOTE: Tables containing various percentage multiples (i.e., 100%, 120%, 133%, etc.) of the 2003 poverty guidelines commonly used in Federal and State programs are available internally from the links below. These tables from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services include both monthly and annual amounts for various family sizes. The tables are in PDF format, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. Click the Help window Back button to return here when finished.
· 2003 All States (Except Alaska and Hawaii) and DC
· 2003 Alaska
· 2003 Hawaii

2002 HHS Poverty Guidelines

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 67, No. 31, February 14, 2002, pp. 6931-6933.

NOTE: Tables containing various percentage multiples (i.e., 100%, 120%, 133%, etc.) of the 2002 poverty guidelines commonly used in Federal and State programs are available internally from the links below. These tables from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services include both monthly and annual amounts for various family sizes. The tables are in PDF format, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. Click the Help window Back button to return here when finished.
· 2002 All States (Except Alaska and Hawaii) and DC
· 2002 Alaska
· 2002 Hawaii

2001 HHS Poverty Guidelines

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 66, No. 33, February 16, 2001, pp. 10695-10697.

NOTE: Tables containing various percentage multiples (i.e., 100%, 120%, 133%, etc.) of the 2001 poverty guidelines commonly used in Federal and State programs are available internally from the links below. These tables from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services include both monthly and annual amounts for various family sizes. The tables are in PDF format, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. Click the Help window Back button to return here when finished.
· 2001 All States (Except Alaska and Hawaii) and DC
· 2001 Alaska
· 2001 Hawaii

2000 HHS Poverty Guidelines

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 65, No. 31, February 15, 2000, pp. 7555-7557.

NOTE: Tables containing various percentage multiples (i.e., 100%, 120%, 133%, etc.) of the 2000 poverty guidelines commonly used in Federal and State programs are available internally from the links below. These tables from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services include both monthly and annual amounts for various family sizes. The tables are in PDF format, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. Click the Help window Back button to return here when finished.
· 2000 All States (Except Alaska and Hawaii) and DC
· 2000 Alaska
· 2000 Hawaii

1999 HHS Poverty Guidelines

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 64, No. 52, March 18, 1999, pp. 13428-13430.

NOTE: Tables containing various percentage multiples (i.e., 100%, 120%, 133%, etc.) of the 1999 poverty guidelines commonly used in Federal and State programs are available internally from the links below. These tables from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services include both monthly and annual amounts for various family sizes. The tables are in PDF format, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. Click the Help window Back button to return here when finished.
· 1999 All States (Except Alaska and Hawaii) and DC
· 1999 Alaska
· 1999 Hawaii

1998 HHS Poverty Guidelines

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 63, No. 36, February 24, 1998, pp. 9235-9238.

NOTE: Tables containing various percentage multiples (i.e., 100%, 120%, 133%, etc.) of the 1998 poverty guidelines commonly used in Federal and State programs are available internally from the links below. These tables from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services include both monthly and annual amounts for various family sizes. The tables are in PDF format, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. Click the Help window Back button to return here when finished.
· 1998 All States (Except Alaska and Hawaii) and DC
· 1998 Alaska

Source

http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/

http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/12poverty.shtml

http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/10fedreg.shtml

http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/09extension.shtml

http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/09extensionfedreg.shtml

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicaidEligibility/07_IncomeandResourceGuidelines.asp

http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty.html

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