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New Census Bureau estimates say the number of Texans living in poverty went down slightly during the five-year period ending in 2022. An average of nearly 14% of Texans lived below the poverty line from 2018 to 2022, down from 16% between 2013 and 2017. The pandemic brought economic growth to a standstill, followed by a period of recovery. Texas reached 30 million population last year, and people moving to Texas tend to be younger and more educated, increasing the state's income level. But 76 of the state's 254 counties, mostly rural ones, saw a rise in poverty rates from 2018 to 2022.