A new report that adjusts the poverty line to reflect housing costs says New York, California and Washington, D.C., have the highest percentage of residents living in poverty, surpassing traditionally impoverished regions like the Deep South.
Washington, ranked fifth poorest by the government, vaulted into the top spot, according to the report, with 21 percent of residents in poverty.
Nationwide, 12.7 percent of Americans, or 37 million, lived below the poverty line in 2004, according to the Census Bureau.
"The biggest difference between California and New York and the rest of the United States is a high cost of living," said Ms. Reed, an economist with the policy institute.
"If you live in Mississippi and pay $6,000 for rent and you're at the poverty threshold, you have $13,000 left for everything else.
Some poverty thresholds were higher than the national rate, some lower.
Mr. Besharov said he was not shocked that states with large urban areas could have more people below the poverty line than less developed areas.
The Census Bureau does take into account housing costs when formulating alternate definitions of the poverty line, but does not break down those estimates by state, Ms.
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