Poverty and health in the United States

Poverty and health are intertwined in the United States. As of 2019, 10.5% of Americans were considered in poverty, according to the U.S. Government's official poverty measure. People living in poverty experience elevated risks of adverse physical and mental health outcomes and barriers to accessing health care, including limited access to health insurance and preventative medical services. These disparities have been associated with differences in geographic location, environmental exposures, housing conditions, and access to social and economic resources. Poverty and related health disparities in the United States vary across demographic groups and reflect the combined influence of race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and age.

A 2023 study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association found that cumulative poverty of 10 or more years is the fourth leading risk factor for mortality in the United States, associated with nearly 300,000 deaths annually. A single year of poverty was associated with 183,000 deaths in 2019, making it the seventh leading risk factor for mortality that year.