Are poverty rates higher in southern states?

Many states in the South and Southwest recorded some of the nation’s highest poverty rates in 2024. The national rate was roughly 12%, but several states in these regions exceeded that. For example, New Mexico’s rate was 16.5%, Oklahoma’s was about 15%, and Texas’ rate was over 13%.

Multiple factors contribute to elevated poverty levels across these regions. In the Southwest, many households experience “energy poverty,” meaning they spend a disproportionately large share of income on energy costs due to extreme heat and outdated assistance programs, an MIT study found. Climate-related stressors such as drought, water scarcity and infrastructure damage also hit low-income and Indigenous communities in the Southwest especially hard.