The U.S. poverty rate is currently at the lowest level since data collection began in 1959.
Posted by Speaker Mike Johnson, Checked
- Sources
- 3 contradict3 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 70%
Speaker Mike Johnson@SpeakerJohnsonNov 10, 2026The Census Bureau's official poverty rate for 2025 (10.2%) is the lowest since records began in 1959, so the claim holds on the official measure as of 2026-11-10. However, the Supplemental Poverty Measure (13.1% in 2025) was not at its lowest, which fact-checkers note makes the unqualified claim misleading.
A detail. The sources confirm the gist; the verdict faults a detail such as a date, number or wording.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… And we took care of that problem and we restored common sense. We did things like cutting burdensome, crushing regulations to allow job creators and entrepreneurs to do more of what they do and add more jobs and more opportunity for more Americans. And because of that, we're experiencing the lowest poverty rate in the history of, of those, of those data points since they began in 1959. We have the lowest poverty rate in America right now. We also have the safest streets. We have the lowest violent crime rate in 126 years. Because of our policies and what we did. We had the biggest decline in prescription drug costs in over 60 years. …
Speaker Mike Johnson@SpeakerJohnson · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. Under the Supplemental Poverty Measure, 2025 was 13.1%, not statistically different from 2024 and above the 7.7% low in 2021, so the 'lowest ever' framing fails on that measure.[1][2][4]
Supports. The Census Bureau's 2025 report says the official poverty rate fell to 10.2%, the lowest since the official measure can be traced back to 1959.[4][5][6]
Supports. Snopes, AP and FactCheck.org each say Trump is correct that the official poverty rate is at its lowest level on record.[1][2][3]
Context. AP and FactCheck.org call the 'lowest ever' framing missing context, since the SPM accounts for non-cash benefits and expenses, and only the official measure reached a record low.[1][2]
Sources
6 sources: 3 fact-checkers, 2 primary, 1 not rated
- 1Trump claims US poverty is its lowest in history, missing ...apnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts, supports, context
- 2FactChecking Claims from Trump’s Midterm Ralliesfactcheck.org · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts, supports, context
- 3Is official US poverty rate at all-time historical low, as ...snopes.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 4Poverty in the United States: 2025 - https: // www2 . census . gov.www2.census.gov · primary source · cited for: contradicts, supports
- 5Poverty in the United States: 2025census.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 6US Poverty Rate Dips to Lowest on Record, Census Bureau Saysmoney.usnews.com · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The poverty rate is the lowest in history.Mixed
- The United States reached the lowest poverty rate in the history of that data being recorded.True
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- The United States has the lowest murder rate and lowest violent crime rate in 126 years.True