which states in the usa have the highest poverty rate?
We decided to fact-check whether the report Mayes cited really shows that California has the highest poverty rate in the nation. Our research. From 2013 to 2015, California had Americaâs 17th-highest poverty rate, 15 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureauâs Official Poverty Measure. That measure uses income levels to determine poverty, but does not consider differences in cost-of-living among states. It lists the official poverty threshold for a two-adult, two-child family at $24,036 in 2015. During the same period, California had the highest poverty rate, 20.6 percent, according to the censusâ Supplemental Poverty Measure.