STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Fewer Staten Islanders are struggling to make ends meet, with recently released census data showing that the number of borough residents living in poverty has dropped more than 14% over the past year.
New data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey 1-year estimates shows that 54,767 of the 492,905 residents on Staten Island, roughly 11.1%, are living in poverty.
The 54,767 Staten Islanders living in poverty represent a significant 14.3% decrease from the 63,877 that were reported in 2023.
In 2023, the 63,877 residents living in poverty represented roughly 13.2% of the 485,265 residents across the borough, indicating that a smaller percentage of Staten Islanders are now below the poverty line.
“The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is in poverty. If a family’s total income is less than the family’s threshold, then that family and every individual in it is considered in poverty,” according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The 54,767 borough residents living in poverty includes 12,084 children under the age of 18, 29,291 adults between the ages of 18 and 64 and 13,392 seniors ages 65 and up.
The 12,084 children living in poverty represent a 33.6% decrease from the 18,196 reported in 2023, with the number of adults between the ages of 18 and 64 living in poverty also falling 11.4%, from 33,052 to 29,291.
Seniors ages 65 and up were the only age group to see an increase in the number of residents living in poverty. The 13,392 seniors living in poverty represents a 6% increase from the 12,629 reported the previous year.
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