Allocations for Agricultural Worker and Basic Field Service areas are based on each service area’s respective share of the total poverty population, defined as individuals with income below 100% of the federal poverty level. Read More...
The total poverty population is the sum of the poverty populations in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands and the jurisdictions in the Micronesia service area. Note: total poverty population estimates for the 50 states, D.C .and Puerto Rico are based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS); Agricultural Worker population estimates are a subset of the ACS estimates.
The U.S. Census Bureau provides poverty population estimates for Basic Field-General service areas, based on the American Community Survey. Although LSC receives poverty estimates each year, the estimates used for allocations only change every three years. Read More...
Since 2013, the U.S. Census has provided LSC with annual poverty population estimates from the American Community Survey (ACS) for Basic Field General service areas in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Estimates for American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin Islands are based on the Decennial Census. Estimates for the Micronesia service area are based on data from the Decennial Census, as well as from the independent states of the Federal States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshal Islands, and the Republic of Palau.
The U.S. Department of Labor provides estimates of the number of poor agricultural workers in each state. These estimates are not updated on the same schedule as poverty estimates from the Census Bureau (estimates were last provided in 2016, and new estimates are expected to be provided in late 2020 and in 2024). Read More...
The Census Bureau does not collect and report population estimates for the LSC Agricultural Worker Poverty Population. These estimates are provided by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA), the federal agency with the greatest expertise in the characteristics and geographic distribution of agricultural worker populations in the U.S. Currently, estimates from 2016 are used; new estimates will be provided in the fall of 2020.
For the purposes of the allocation of field funding among geographic areas, the "LSC Agricultural Worker Poverty Population" is the estimated number of current workers, workers temporarily out of the agricultural workforce, retirees, and dependents, with incomes less than 100% of poverty and eligible for LSC-funded assistance pursuant to the provisions of Sec. 1626 of the LSC regulations LSC grantees’ services to individuals who are not citizens.
