A decade of economic progress in the Bay Area has been erased in less than a year, according to a new report released Wednesday by Tipping Point Community, a San Francisco-based anti-poverty nonprofit.
The analysis, which relies on the US Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure, found that poverty in the region jumped from 10% in 2023 to 13% in 2024. This translates to roughly 220,000 more residents falling into poverty in a single year — a rate of increase unseen since the Great Recession.
“We are seeing the unwinding of really important safety net expansions that happened during the pandemic,” said Chris Cobbs, Tipping Point’s CEO. “When those expired, we saw poverty shoot right back up.”
The report highlights that the expiration of pandemic-era federal programs, such as the expanded Child Tax Credit and rental assistance, removed a critical floor for low-income families. At the same time, the cost of living in the Bay Area has continued to soar, driven by rising housing costs and inflation.
According to the report, a family of four in the Bay Area needs an annual income of at least $150,000 to cover basic needs without assistance. However, the poverty threshold used by the federal government is set much lower, at roughly $35,000 for a family of four.
This discrepancy, Cobbs argued, means the official numbers likely undercount the true extent of financial hardship in the region.
“The official poverty measure is antiquated and doesn’t account for the cost of housing in a place like the Bay Area,” Cobbs said. “The Supplemental Poverty Measure gives us a much more accurate picture, and that picture is alarming.”
The increase in poverty was not felt equally across all demographics. Black and Latino residents, who were already disproportionately affected by the pandemic’s economic fallout, saw the steepest rises. Child poverty also spiked, reversing years of declines.
“It’s a policy choice,” Cobbs said. “We saw that when we invest in families, poverty goes down. when we pull that investment back, poverty goes up. It’s not a mystery.”
Despite the bleak top-line numbers, the report did find some bright spots. The Bay Area continues to have a strong labor market, and local safety net programs in counties like San Francisco and Santa Clara have helped to blunt the impact of federal retrenchment.
The report urges policymakers to focus on three key areas: expanding the supply of affordable housing, strengthening the local safety net and investing in workforce development programs that help residents secure higher-paying jobs.
“This region has the resources, the innovation and the will to solve big problems,” Cobbs said. “Today’s report underscores the urgency, but it also reminds us that solutions are within reach.”