Editing Poverty threshold (section)

====Cutoff issues====
Most experts and the public agree that the official poverty line in the United States is substantially lower than the actual cost of basic needs. In particular, a 2017 [[Urban Institute]] study found that 61% of non-elderly adults earning between 100 and 200% of the poverty line reported at least one material hardship, not [[Statistical significance|significantly]] different from those below the poverty line. The cause of the discrepancy is believed to be an outdated model of spending patterns based on actual spending in the year 1955; the number and proportion of material needs has risen substantially since then.

=====Variability=====
The US Census Bureau calculates the poverty line the same throughout the US regardless of the cost-of-living in a state or urban area. For instance, the cost-of-living in California, the most populous state, was 42% greater than the US average in 2010, while the cost-of-living in Texas, the second-most populous state, was 10% less than the US average.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} In 2017, California had the highest poverty rate in the country when housing costs are factored in, a measure calculated by the Census Bureau known as "the supplemental poverty measure".<ref name=cen>{{cite news|title=Expensive homes make California poorest state|author=Matt Levin |page=C1 |date=2 October 2017|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref>