Mapping American Poverty

There are 42,500,000 people in the United States living in poverty. Economic instability is now a matter of course for many Americans. In fact 40% of Americans would be unable to come up with $400 in an emergency. Microsoft News has partnered with Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity to explore the economic hardship which is now confronting millions of Americans.

As part of this series on poverty Microsoft has released the Poverty Next Door interactive map. Every county on the Poverty By State and County map is colored to show the numbers of people living in poverty. If you select a state from the map's drop-down menu you can view the median household income in the state and the numbers living in poverty. If you select a county you can also view the local median household income and the number of people in the county living in poverty.

When you select a county on the map you can view a list of local charities working with people in poverty. Microsoft's interactive poverty map is part of its Poverty Next Door series, exploring economic inequality in modern America.