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 2020-24, 71% of residents in Westchester County had incomes that were 300% of the poverty level or higher, a higher proportion than both the state (excluding NYC) and the nation (58% and 56%, respectively). About 5% earned between 50% and 99%, and 4% earned below 50%. The state and nation had slightly higher percentages of earners in these lowest income groups.

The percentage of residents earning more than 300% of the poverty level has increased since 2010-14, by four percentage points, while rates at the lowest levels have remained fairly steady.

The multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined 5 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 3 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.