In 2025, Tipping Point published “Poverty in the Bay: Insights into Job and Demographic Disparities,” highlighting Bay Area poverty line trends among demographic and labor market characteristics. This report serves as an extension of Tipping Point’s “Shedding Light on Bay Area Poverty,” which reported 1.6 million people living in or at the edge of the poverty line in 2023. (The poverty line is measured through the California Poverty Measure. For poverty line estimates and detailed methodology, see our 2023 report.)
The following key insights from this report underscore the need to champion innovative economic opportunities and equitable access to prosperity, both core components of Tipping Point’s strategy to build a Bay Area where all residents can thrive.
1. 1 in 4 restaurant and hospitality workers live in poverty.
Poverty rates vary drastically by job sector and occupation. Bay Area households dependent on leisure and hospitality jobs (such as restaurant server, housekeeper, hotel manager, etc.) face a poverty rate of 27%. On the other hand, households with employment in the information sector (which includes jobs such as software engineer, product manager, web developer, etc.) have the lowest poverty rate at 4%.
Tipping Point’s employment strategy centers on expanding access to jobs with strong earning potential and advocating for living wages in traditionally low-wage industries.
2. Latine residents disproportionately rely on high-poverty job occupations.
Inequities across education and career advancement result in a racial wealth gap particularly affecting Latine residents. The data shows Latine residents are disproportionately employed in occupations with some of the highest poverty rates. For example, 16% of Latine residents work in food preparation, serving, or building and ground maintenance jobs, which has a poverty rate of 33%; and 24% are employed in construction, installation, or production roles, where the poverty rate is 20%.
Tipping Point partners with long-time grantee Canal Alliance to build opportunities for low-income workers, primarily from the Latine and immigrant communities, to advance into higher-paying, career-track jobs.
3. Young adults face the highest poverty rate among age groups.
The transition to adulthood is marked by change and uncertainty with 23% of young adults aged 18-24 living below the poverty line. This is the highest rate of any age group and significantly higher than the poverty rate for children under 18 (14%) and adults aged 25-64 (11%).
Through the Youth Homelessness initiative, Tipping Point invests in organizations that equip young adults with the resources they need to achieve financial independence and long-term stability.
Read the report for more insights into 2025 poverty trends and see how Tipping Point is tackling challenges to create a stronger Bay Area.
