The
poverty rate is the percentage of people living below the poverty level or “threshold.” Each year, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget establishes a series of poverty thresholds for different family sizes and ages of household heads.
Among Maine's residents, the overall poverty rate . . .
- was 13.1 percent in 2010,
12.6 percent in 2009, and
10.9 percent in 1999;
- ranked 16th
– from lowest to highest – out of
the 50 states
in 2010.
