New research from Tipping Point with the University of California provides a snapshot of the state of poverty in the Bay Area both prior to the pandemic and at the height of it. The latest results from Taking Count––which surveyed the same group of Bay Area residents in 2019 and again in 2021––found that our region’s poverty levels have held steady, with about 1 in 5 residents living in poverty. This report sheds light on the critical role government and nonprofit support have played to keep people from falling into poverty, despite dramatic economic disruption, as well as the continued and unequal economic fragility experienced by many throughout the Bay Area.
Taking Count 2021: A Study on Poverty in the Bay Area Found:
- 1 in 5 Bay Area residents is living in poverty, similar to findings before the pandemic.
- Government and nonprofit response played a critical role in keeping 200,000 people out of poverty.
- Twice as many households needing support turned to nonprofit organizations.
- The toll of job loss and the mental, physical, financial, and emotional strain of the pandemic, while felt across the Bay Area, weighed disproportionately on low-income, Black, and Latinx community members.
See more from Tipping Point’s Research + Innovation team. See Press Release for Taking Count 2021.
