The U.S. Census Bureau’s newly released 2024 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates provide a fresh look at how families across the country are faring on various economic and social indicators. While some states made progress in reducing poverty and boosting household incomes, Texas continues to stand out for troubling reasons: high poverty, stagnant incomes for many households, and the highest uninsured rate in the nation.
A Brief Note on Methodology
ACS 1-year estimates summarize data collected continuously over the calendar year from a nationally representative sample, producing timely statistics on population, income, poverty, insurance, housing, and more for geographies of 65,000 or larger. The Census Bureau notes that 2024 ACS results reflect updated population controls (including higher net migration), so year-over-year comparisons should emphasize percentages and medians over counts and be mindful of margins of error and standard survey uncertainty. Additionally, the Official Poverty Measure (OPM) mainly reflects the private economy (pre-tax cash income), while the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) captures the impact of policies like SNAP, Medicaid/CHIP/ACA, and tax credits. SPM thresholds rose notably in 2024, so an anchored SPM can be more useful for year-to-year comparisons; the big picture is that policy choices meaningfully change poverty and coverage. More here.
Income: Small Gains, Persistent Inequality
Nationally, real median household income grew 2% between 2023 and 2024 to $81,604. More than half of states saw income gains, but Texas remains below the national median. In 2023, the median household income in Texas was $78,006. In 2024, the modest gain brought Texas’ median household income to $79,721. Metro areas, places like San Francisco and Washington, D.C. are pulling far ahead, while large Texas metros such as San Antonio ($78,112) and Houston ($76,403) remain near the bottom of the list. See the interactive table below to explore the data.
Income inequality, measured by the Gini index, declined slightly at the national level, but remains high in Texas. The newly released data shows that Texas’s 2024 Gini score is 0.479, just short of the national Gini score of 0.481. This underscores an ongoing gap between high- and low-income households, with Black and Hispanic families most likely to face stagnant wages. Overall, 2024 saw small real gains nationally, but high housing, child care, and utility costs continued to squeeze family budgets. That’s why inequality remains elevated even with slightly higher median income. In Texas, targeting cost drivers (housing supply, child care, transportation) is as important as wage growth. Smart and efficient policy solutions, such as expanding high-return apprenticeships and sector partnerships while lowering barriers to work (child care access, transportation, credential recognition), will be critical—especially in light of large safety net cuts. Policymakers must utilize this data to consider solutions that will benefit all Texans and help drive economic prosperity in the state. Policymakers must utilize this data to consider solutions that will benefit all Texans and help drive economic prosperity in the state.
Poverty: National Decline, but Texas Still Struggles
The national poverty rate fell to 12.1% in 2024 from 12.5% in 2023, which continues a decade-long trend of improvement. Though 13 states saw declines in poverty rates, Texas is still above the national average at 13.4% with especially high poverty in metro areas like Houston (14.4%) and San Antonio (14.2%).
Even more concerning, 6.0% of people in the U.S. and 6.4% in Texas live in deep poverty (incomes below 50% of the official poverty line), roughly under $8,160 for an individual and $15,906 for a family of four in 2024 using Census Bureau thresholds. Families in this situation are often forced to make impossible tradeoffs between food, housing, health care, and transportation. Texas’ challenges are also unevenly distributed across racial and ethnic groups. Black and Hispanic Texans are disproportionately represented among those living in poverty and deep poverty, reflecting the cumulative effects of wage gaps, discrimination in housing and labor markets, and unequal access to generational wealth.
Policy choices play a key role in these outcomes. States that have expanded Medicaid, invested in affordable housing, or strengthened income supports like TANF and SNAP have seen faster reductions in poverty than states that have not. Texas, by contrast, has maintained some of the nation’s lowest benefit levels and strictest eligibility rules, leaving many families with little support when they fall on hard times.
Health Insurance: Texas Tops Uninsured List Again
The uninsured rate rose in one-third of states in 2024, reflecting the end of continuous Medicaid coverage and uneven state policy responses. Texas continues to have the highest uninsured rate in the nation at 16.7%. Among working-age adults, more than 1 in 5 Texans (21.6%) lack health insurance, which is nearly triple the rate in states like Massachusetts.
For children, the uninsured rate increased in 19 states; Texas again ranked worst, with 13.6% of children uninsured (see Every Texan’s Kids Count webpage for more data on overall child well-being). These coverage gaps have serious long-term consequences for children’s health, educational success, and family financial security.
Insights about Texas Children from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey
When parents can’t care for their children, relatives and close family friends step in. According to newly released data from the Current Population Survey’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement for 2024, the number of children in kinship care in Texas rose to 287,000 in 2024 (roughly 4% of the child population in the state.) Most of these arrangements are informal and keep children connected to family and community, saving the state millions in comparison to traditional foster care. Yet, kinship caregivers often receive little or no support. The number of children living in poverty in Texas has increased steadily since 2019. Compared to 2023, now 16% of all children in the state are living in poverty. This is a jump from the 2023 average of 12%.
What This Means for Texas
Texas’ persistent challenges are not inevitable. States that have expanded Medicaid or invested in affordable coverage options have achieved far lower uninsured rates. Likewise, states that prioritize living wages, affordable housing, and targeted anti-poverty programs are reducing hardship more quickly.
Behind every statistic is a family making hard tradeoffs. The new data make one thing clear: if Texas leaders fail to act, families will continue to fall behind while other states move ahead. Expanding health coverage, investing in families, and tackling inequality head-on are not just moral imperatives, they are economic necessities.
These figures (13.4% poverty, 16.7% uninsured, 6.4% deep poverty) are a baseline, not a verdict. We’ll track them, publish them, and hold decisionmakers and ourselves to better results next year. Texans deserve to see the curve bend toward security.
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