Bay Area’s poverty soared, data shows, as California’s top earners saw windfalls

Newly released data found that the San Francisco Bay Area’s poverty rate soared from 12.2% to 16.3% in 2023, with an approximate total 1.02 million residents in this six-county region considered impoverished by year’s end. Another 12.5% of residents – about 790,000 people – hovered on the brink of poverty, meaning that about three in 10 Bay Area residents struggled to cover basic expenses. The data, released by the anti-poverty non-profit Tipping Point Community, make clear that cost of living has ballooned far beyond wages for many residents, hearkening to this region’s stark wealth gap. The poverty threshold in the Bay Area is $28,081 annual income for one adult and $52,715 for a family of four, according to Tipping Point Community. The near poverty benchmark is $42,122 for one adult and $79,073 for a family of four. Income rose 34% from 2016 to 2023, but cost of living increased 46%, according to the report. Between 2021 and 2023, those numbers were 10% and 18%, respectively. The 2021-2023 period also saw a 17% uptick in grocery prices, according to the report. The analysis reveals a backslide in poverty-fighting efforts. Between 2011 and 2021, the region’s poverty rate declined from 18.7% to 10.8%. The 2023 poverty rate reflected levels last noted in 2016, about 2% higher than before the Covid-19 pandemic. These statistics were gathered by comparing poverty rates in early 2023 to the year’s end. Tipping Point Community notes that “the most up-to-date poverty estimates typically lag by at least 18 months” as they are gleaned from census data and then analyzed. The report also showed that work did not necessarily protect residents from poverty. “Half of all people living in poverty in the Bay Area are in families with at least one full-time, year-round worker,” the report said. “In total, more than 1 million residents are in or on the brink of poverty despite having a full-time earner in the household.” Although the increasing poverty rates affected all racial demographics, there were disparities. White residents saw a poverty increase from 9.3% to 10.6%, whereas Black residents had increase from 15.8% to 22.1%. Latino residents saw a poverty increase from 20.3% to 26%, while Asian residents went from 9.6% to 14.1%. The Bay Area’s poverty rate is reflective of the overall level in California. In 2024 about 7 million people, 17.7% of state residents, could not afford their basic needs, according to the California Budget and Policy Center. This means that California has the highest poverty rate of any US state, alongside Louisiana. Meanwhile, data on wealth in California indicate that top earners are seeing windfalls. California boasts more billionaire residents than any other state. In Silicon Valley, a mere nine households possess 15% of the area’s wealth, new research from San Jose State University indicates. And just .1% of residents in the region hold 71% of its wealth, the study said.