One in 10 county residents lives below poverty line

Although Hawaiʻi was one of the lowest states in terms of poverty in the survey, supplemental poverty measure data paint a different picture, according to the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice.

The nonprofit advocacy group for low-income residents and families argued in a post on its website Thursday that the bureau’s data is based solely on available cash resources of residents in a state. The nonprofit said that when the supplemental data is considered, which includes housing subsidies and transportation costs, Hawaiʻi has one of the highest poverty rates in the country.

From 2015 to 2017, Hawaiʻi had the 10th lowest poverty rate at 10.2 percent according to the American Community Survey. With supplemental data, the state falls to the 10th highest poverty rate in the nation at 15 percent, or 210,000 residents in poverty, according to the group.

“When you hear that Hawaiʻi has one of the lowest poverty rates in the nation, remember that’s because the official rate doesn’t take into account our highest-in-the-nation cost of living,” the nonprofit said on its website. “Also remember that the Census Bureau has a more accurate poverty measure, one that shows that Hawaiʻi actually has one of the nation’s highest poverty rates, which more accurately reflects what we see here every day.”