A greater share of people live in poverty in California than in any other state, according to a measure used by the U.S. Census Bureau that takes into account the cost of living and government assistance programs.
About 20 percent of Californians lived below the Census' "supplemental" poverty measure from 2014 to 2016, according to data released by the Bureau on Tuesday. That was exceeded only by the District of Columbia where about 21 percent of people live in poverty. However, a greater number of people in California are poor, close to 8 million.
The supplemental poverty measure factors in the government programs for low-income families and individuals, as well as housing costs, which are not included in the official poverty measure.
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Nationwide, the number of people in poverty fell between 2015 and 2016 as the median household income increased.