The line graph illustrates how many individuals below poverty level who live in the USA across four community types between 1970 and 2015. Overall, all types of communities showed an upward trend, albeit to varying degrees except for rural areas which fluctuated throughout the period, while suburbs experienced a dramatic increase and surpassed rural areas and cities over the years.
In terms of people living in urban and suburban areas, the number of residents in the latter at around 6.2 million people at the beginning and increased significantly to 16 million people, surpassing rural populations in 1980 and urban figures in 2000. The figure for people in cities experienced a consistent and gradual growth from around 7.7 million in 1970 to nearly 13 million in 2025, overtaking those people in rural areas at around 1972.
Regarding the remaining community types, the population in small metros stood at just above 8 million in the first year, making it the highest figure, and then this figure saw a slight decline with some fluctuations to just under 8 million, making it the lowest figure in the final year. Moreover, the total rural inhabitants accounted for the lowest figure in 1970, at approximately 5.7 million. Subsequently, those people increased steadily to close to 10 million by 2015, surpassing rural populations in 2000.