Tax Policy Center

Statistics

Browse Statistics

Low-Income

Historical Data

Individual Taxes

Household Income Quintiles

Income limits and mean income for each quintile of household income, 1967 through 2021.

Poverty

Individual Taxes

Poverty Thresholds

Poverty thresholds (in dollars) by size of family and number of related children, 1990 to 2022.

Individual Taxes

Taxes and Transfers at Various Levels of Poverty, Equal Earnings July to December

Amount of selected taxes and transfers for a single parent with two children at various levels of poverty, assuming no earnings January through June and equal earnings July through December, by state.

Individual Taxes

Taxes and Transfers at Various Levels of Poverty, Equal Earnings January to December

Amount of selected taxes and transfers for a single parent with two children at various levels of poverty, assuming equal earnings all year, by state.

Individual Taxes

Share of Wages Paid at the Poverty Level for Individual Federal Taxes, 1970-2011

Amount of income, income taxes paid, and payroll taxes paid (in dollars and as a share of wages) by married couples at the poverty threshold, 1970 to 2011.

Individual Taxes

Family Taxes

Income thresholds (in dollars) for poverty, income tax, and payroll tax, by size of family, 1995 to 2013.

Credits

Individual Taxes

EITC Claims by State

Number of federal EITC returns, share of total returns, total and average dollar amounts of credit, by state.

Individual Taxes

EITC Parameters

EITC credit rate, minimum income for maximum credit amount, maximum credit amount, and phaseout rate and range, by number of qualifying children, 1975 to 2023.

Parameters for filers with no custodial children at home ("childless" filers) were updated March 19, 2021 to reflect the temporary expansion of the EITC enacted as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

Individual Taxes

Federal Returns with EITC

Number and dollar amount of EITC, by type of income, number of qualifying children, and income.

Individual Taxes

EITC Distribution by Number of Qualifying Children

Number and dollar amount of EITC, by number of qualifying children and income.

Individual Taxes

EITC Recipients

Number of EITC recipients, total amount and refundable amount of credit, and average credit claimed, 1975 through 2020.

Individual Taxes

EITC, TANF, and Food Stamp Participation Rates Among Families with Children, 1990-2016

Chart of EITC, TANF, and food stamp participation rates among families with children.

Individual Taxes

EITC Distribution by Filing Status, 2000 and 2003

Distribution of EITC benefits, by income and filing status, 2000 and 2003.

EITC

Federal Budget and Economy

Spending on the EITC, Child Tax Credit, and AFDC/TANF, 1975 - 2016

Chart of historical real federal spending on tax provisions applying to low income families with children.

Individual Taxes

EITC Distribution, 2000 and 2003

Number of tax returns and dollar amount of EITC, by filing status and income, for 2000 and 2003.