Poverty and economic insecurity in Texas
More Texans live below the poverty line than the national average, and a much larger share still — working households included — can't cover a basic monthly budget. Here is what the data shows about poverty, near-poverty, and who carries the heaviest share of it, sourced and dated throughout.
Texas, by the numbers
13.4%
was Texas's poverty rate in 2024 — above the national rate of 12.1%. Every Texan, analysis of Census 2024 ACS, Sept 2025
14.4% / 14.2%
were the poverty rates in the Houston and San Antonio metro areas — both running above the statewide figure. Every Texan, Sept 2025
6.4%
of Texans lived in deep poverty in 2024 — below half the federal poverty line. Every Texan, Sept 2025
These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, the standard federal measure of poverty. Like any single-year survey, it has a margin of error, and it measures cash income against a poverty line that hasn't kept pace with the real cost of housing, food, or child care in most of the country — which is part of why the next section matters. Note: these Texas figures come from the ACS; the national poverty figures on our women-in-poverty page are drawn from a different Census survey (CPS ASEC), so the two aren't directly comparable side by side.
ALICE: working, and still priced out of a basic life
The official poverty rate captures only one slice of financial hardship. A separate framework built by the nonprofit research group United For ALICE tracks a much larger population — households where someone works, income sits above the federal poverty line, and it's still not enough to cover a bare-bones monthly budget of housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, and a phone or computer, priced for the county where they actually live.
ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. These are not households failing to work — they are households working and still falling short, often by a matter of a few hundred dollars a month.
40%
of Texas households fell below the ALICE Threshold in 2024 — combining official poverty with ALICE households. United For ALICE, "The State of ALICE in Texas," 2026
27%
of Texas households were specifically ALICE — above the poverty line, working, and still unable to afford a basic household budget (the remaining 13% were in official poverty). United For ALICE, 2026
Put together, roughly two in five Texas households were either in poverty or one unexpected expense away from it in 2024. That is the population a single federal poverty statistic misses almost entirely — and it is a population we meet constantly at Mercy Manor, in women who were working and still couldn't hold housing, child care, and recovery together at the same time.
Women and single mothers in Texas
Poverty in Texas doesn't fall evenly by sex or household type. Available data suggests Texas women age 18 and older experience poverty at a meaningfully higher rate than men — 17.0% compared with 14.2% — and that 33.6% of Texas families headed by a single mother live below the poverty line. (Texas Women's Foundation, via America's Health Rankings)
⚠ A note on this figure: we found the women's and single-mother poverty rates through a secondary summary — America's Health Rankings citing the Texas Women's Foundation — rather than the original report itself. We have not yet confirmed the source study's survey year and methodology, so we're presenting these two figures as directional rather than final, and we'll verify and update this section before treating them as settled.
Directionally, this tracks with what shows up elsewhere in the data above: women who are raising children alone are stacking the cost of housing, child care, and food against a single income, in a state where nearly three in ten working households already can't cover that budget with two incomes.
Why Mercy Manor exists
A woman rebuilding her life after addiction, an abusive home, or incarceration is very often rebuilding it from inside these same numbers — a service-sector wage, no child care safety net, and a county-level cost of living that doesn't bend for her circumstances. About $6,000 funds a woman's entire year at Mercy Manor; $500 a month covers one woman's room, food, counseling, and case management — a stable address that is, in practical terms, the difference between staying above the ALICE line and falling back under it.
Help a Texas woman stay above the line
Nationally
Child care & work
Children affected
What economic insecurity means for the children in these households
Right here
The full picture
Every figure, sourced
- Every Texan. New Census Data Reflect Rising Challenges in Texas on Health Insurance, Poverty, and Income Inequality. Analysis of U.S. Census Bureau 2024 American Community Survey (1-year estimates), September 2025. everytexan.org
- United For ALICE. The State of ALICE in Texas. 2026 report, using 2024 data. unitedforalice.org
- Texas Women's Foundation, via America's Health Rankings. Poverty, Women (Texas). americashealthrankings.org — reached through a secondary summary; the original report's survey year and methodology have not yet been verified, so these two figures are treated as directional pending that check.
Last reviewed: July 2026. Every figure is dated and linked to its source; we refresh as new data publishes.
FAQ
What is the poverty rate in Texas, and how does it compare to the nation?
Texas's poverty rate was 13.4% in 2024, above the national rate of 12.1%. Metro rates run even higher in places — 14.4% in the Houston area and 14.2% in the San Antonio area. (Every Texan, analysis of U.S. Census Bureau 2024 ACS 1-year estimates, September 2025)
What does it mean to live in "deep poverty" in Texas?
Deep poverty means living below half the federal poverty line. An estimated 6.4% of Texans lived in deep poverty in 2024. (Every Texan, analysis of Census 2024 ACS data, September 2025)
What is ALICE, and why does the official poverty rate understate financial hardship?
ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed — households where someone works, income sits above the federal poverty line, and it's still not enough to cover a basic household budget of housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, and technology. An estimated 40% of Texas households fell below the ALICE Threshold in 2024: 13% in official poverty plus another 27% who are ALICE. (United For ALICE, "The State of ALICE in Texas," 2026, using 2024 data)
Do women and single mothers in Texas experience higher poverty rates?
Available data suggests yes: Texas women 18 and over experience poverty at higher rates than men (17.0% versus 14.2%), and 33.6% of Texas single-mother families live in poverty. (Texas Women's Foundation, via America's Health Rankings) We reached this figure through a secondary summary and have not yet verified the original report's survey year and methodology, so we treat it as directional pending that check.