Introduction
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On a national level, U.S. poverty is getting worse. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the poverty rate has grown in recent years, from 12.5 percent in 2007 to 15.1 percent in 2010. Some groups bear the brunt of the pain. For example, the poverty rate is 31.6 percent for families headed by women with no husband present. Blacks and Hispanics also experience disproportionately high poverty rates. Likewise, poverty is unevenly distributed geographically. These are the 10 metropolitan areas (with populations of 300,000 or greater) with the lowest poverty rates.
