Income

Family Poverty

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Proportion of Families Living in Poverty Continues to Decline 

Poverty can have many negative impacts, particularly on child development. Child poverty can negatively affect physical health, socioemotional development, and educational achievement.[1] Tracking poverty can assist with targeting interventions to limit these negative impacts. The poverty rate is also an important tool to determine eligibility for health and human services, including health insurance and supplemental food programs, which can lessen the negative impacts of poverty. This indicator provides detailed information about the percentage and makeup of San Bernardino County families that are living in poverty. A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption residing in the same housing unit.

TREND

The percentage of families in San Bernardino County living in poverty has dropped over the past 10 years, from 15.3% in 2015 to 9.9% in 2024. At 18.5%, families whose head of household does not have a high school diploma have the highest rate of poverty.  

PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES LIVING IN POVERTY CONTINIUES TO DECLINE, REGARDLESS OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
Percentage of Families Living in Poverty by Educational Attainment in San Bernardino County, 2015-2024 

Note: 2020 ACS 1-year data not available.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates (Table S1702)

RACE/ETHNICITY DETAIL

Residents who identify as “some other race” comprised 31% of the families living in poverty in San Bernardino County, followed by 25% who identified as White. In terms of ethnicity, 53% of the families living in poverty are Latino, about the same as their overall proportion in the county (52%). In the accompanying charts, the distribution of the San Bernardino County population by race and ethnicity is provided for context.  

RESIDENTS IDENTIFYING AS OTHER COMPRISE HIGHEST SHARE OF FAMILIES IN POVERTY
Percent of Families Living in Poverty by Race in San Bernardino County, 2024
LATINO RESIDENTS COMPRISE MAJORITY OF FAMILIES IN POVERTY
Distribution of Families Living in Poverty and Population of Families by Ethnicity in San Bernardino County, 2024

Note: The Census asks respondents to report both their race (or races) and their ethnicity (Hispanic or not Hispanic). Because race and ethnicity are collected as separate, overlapping categories, they are presented separately. Race categories include people of any ethnicity, and the Hispanic category includes people of any race. To understand family poverty by race or ethnicity, the charts display the number of families from each racial or ethnic group that are living in poverty expressed as a percent of all families in poverty, compared to each group’s percentage of the overall population of families. For example, if 100 families are in poverty, and 13 of those families have a Black householder, then 13% of families in poverty identify as Black. This can be compared to the proportion of all families with a Black householder. For example, if 13% of families in poverty have a Black householder and 8% of all families have a Black householder, this suggests Black families are overrepresented among families in poverty.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates (Table S1702) 

SOCIOECONOMIC DETAIL

Looking at poverty by family structure, families led by single women (female-headed households where there is no spouse living in the house) have the highest rates of poverty. More than one-fifth (20.6%) of single women (with or without children) live in poverty. The rate is highest (28.9%) for single mothers (female-headed households with children under 18 years of age and no spouse).  In comparison, married-couple families (with or without children) have a lower poverty rate (6.4%).  For those married-couple families with children under 18 years of age, the rate increases to 7.7%.   

SINGLE MOTHER HOUSEHOLDS EXPERIENCE HIGHEST RATE OF POVERTY
Poverty Level by Family Structure and Ages of Children in San Bernardino County, 2024

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates (Table DP03)

GEOGRAPHIC COMPARISON

San Bernardino County’s rate of family poverty (9.9%) is higher than the state and national averages (both 8.5%), and it is the highest among the counties compared, except for Miami-Dade (10.9%). Residents in the city of Victorville had the highest rate of families living in poverty (15.8%), while Upland had the lowest rate (3.9%).  

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY HAS THE SECOND HIGHEST RATE OF FAMILIES IN POVERTY AMONG COUNTIES COMPARED
County Comparison of Percentage of Families Living Poverty, 2024

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates (Table S1702)
VICTORVILLE HAS THE HIGHEST POVERTY RATE AMONG SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY CITIES
Percentage of Families Living in Poverty by City in San Bernardino County, 2024

Note: Due to the data source, only cities with populations of 65,000 or more are included.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates (Table S1702)

[1] American Academy of Pediatrics, “Poverty and Child Health in the United States,” Pediatrics (2016) 137 (4)