HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- One out of five people in Houston lives in poverty, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data. Those recently released numbers put Houston at the top of the list with the highest poverty rate among America's largest cities.

According to the data, 21.1% of residents lived at or below the federal poverty line in 2024. That number is exactly double the national poverty rate of 10.6%, according to census data.

"For about the past decade, Houston has been around this mark of 20% to 21% on or off for about ten years now," said Daniel Potter, the Director of the Houston Population Research Center at the Kinder Institute.

When it comes to understanding why the poverty rate is that high, Potter said it doesn't have to do with Houston not having enough jobs. Instead, he s

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