Percentage of Persons Living in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity, New Mexico, 2015-2019
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Why Is This Important?
Poverty takes into account both income and family size, and has both immediate and long-lasting effects on health. Income provides an assessment of the financial resources available to individual persons or families for basic necessities (e.g., food, clothing, and health care) to maintain or improve their well-being. Persons living in poverty are worse off than persons in more affluent households for many of the indicators tracked by the New Mexico Department of Health.
Definition
The estimated percentage of persons living in households whose income is at or below the federal poverty level. Poverty status is determined by comparing household income to poverty thresholds (income cutoffs). Thresholds vary by family size and number of children under 18 in the household. For instance, the poverty level for a family of four in 2023 is $32,150. For more information, see [https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines].
Data Notes
The poverty data by race and Hispanic ethnicity were available from the American Community Survey, but were not reported using New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) standard race and ethnicity categories. American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, Black or African American groups excluded multi-racial persons, but included persons who were Hispanic or Latino. The Hispanic category include persons of Hispanic/Latino origin of any race. The White category include White non-Hispanic persons only. Comparisons with data using the NMDOH standard race reporting categories should not be made. For more information on race reporting categories, see the IBIS page on Race and Ethnicity Measurement and Reporting (http://ibis.health.state.nm.us/resource/RacEth.html).Data Sources
- New Mexico Population Estimates: University of New Mexico, Geospatial and Population Studies (GPS) Program.
(http://gps.unm.edu/) - U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
(http://data.census.gov)
How the Measure is Calculated
| Numerator: | Estimated number of persons living in households whose income is below 100% of the federal poverty level as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. |
| Denominator: | Estimated number of persons in the population. |
Data Issues
{{class RedText NOTE: On January 16, 2025, the NM-IBIS and NMTracking POPULATION ESTIMATES FOR YEARS **2010 THROUGH 2023** WERE REPLACED. Data from the 2020 decennial census were used to update the estimates. Rates calculated using the NM-IBIS and NMTracking web-based queries are affected. Any rates that use population denominators that were calculated after January 16, 2025 will be different from those calculated prior to that date. We apologize for the inconvenience.}} All population estimates apply to July 1 of the selected year. These estimates are considered the most accurate estimates for the state of New Mexico and should match those found on the University of New Mexico [https://gps.unm.edu/pop/population-estimates.html Geospatial and Population Studies website]. Estimates include decimal fractions. Census tract population estimates were summed to produce County estimates. Population estimate totals may vary slightly due to rounding.Health Topic Pages Related to: Population Demographic Characteristics - Poverty Among All Persons
Community Health Resources and Links
- Healthy People 2030 Website
- The Guide to Community Preventive Services
- U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
- County Health Rankings
- Kaiser Family Foundation's StateHealthFacts
Medical literature can be queried at the PubMed website.