The percentage of people living in or near poverty is a measure of the overall economic health of a region. It also indicates the level of need for social and government supports.

In 2018-22, 10% of Worcester County residents had incomes below the poverty level, including 5% with incomes less than half of the poverty level. These individuals are considered to live in extreme poverty. Another 12% of county residents had incomes between 100% and 199% of the poverty level, 13% had incomes between 200% and 299% of the poverty level, and 65% had incomes above that level. The share of people at 300% or higher has increased three percentage points since 2008-12, while the share of those in extreme poverty at half the poverty level has remained steady.

The Worcester County distribution of incomes was very similar to the state and a bit more disproportionate than the nation, where a lower percentage (55%) of people have incomes 300% or higher than the poverty line and higher shares of residents (16%) were between 100% and 199%, and residents (16%) between 200% and 299%.

Among localities with reliable data, Harvard had the highest percentage of residents living at 300% of the poverty line or higher, at 91%, and Athol had the lowest at 38%.

The multi-year figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval). The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator are expected to be released annually in December.