A map of the American states based on poverty - the darker the state the higher the poverty rate. Click here for the original.
The Kaiser Foundation breaks the data down by race: White: Texas 12%, US 13%, Black: Texas 31%, US 35%, Hispanic: 34%, US 33%.
If you look at these numbers carefully you'll notice that Texas' rate in each category is lower than the national rate. The difference is in the racial and ethinc breakdown of the state as opposed to the nation as a whole.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation looks at childhood poverty. The national childhood poverty rate for 2011 was 23%, in Texas it was 27%.
Slightly different information can be found in the Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service's website. For 2010, the Texas poverty rate was 17.9% and the childhood povertyrate was 25.7%.
