San Antonio’s high poverty rate hasn’t budged, according to a new Status of Poverty report from the city’s Department of Human Services.

Roughly 250,000 residents — 17% of the population — live in poverty, according to the latest U.S. Census data analyzed by the city. That rate has not come down in a statistically meaningful way in the last 10 years. The state and national averages are much lower, at 13.8% and 12.5%, respectively.

Federally designated poverty thresholds vary depending on family size and other factors. But the 2026 report defines poverty as an annual income below $16,320 for an individual and $31,812 for a family of four. 

San Antonio remains the second poorest large city in Texas, behind Houston alone (19.9%), which similarly has not seen its poverty rate decline over the last decade. Dallas, which has a slightly lower poverty rate than San Antonio, has seen a significant decline — 2.2 percentage points — in its poverty rate over the same period. 

The report also notes that older adults are facing higher poverty rates than in previous years, but child poverty saw meaningful declines in San Antonio.

Zooming out, the larger San Antonio-New Braunfels metropolitan area is the third poorest among large metros in the U.S., only surpassed by Houston and Detroit.

The city has been compiling its Status of Poverty report periodically since 2019. Officials use the data to track progress and make policy recommendations.

This year’s report also included a new metric that aims to capture people who are not technically living in poverty, but who are experiencing financial instability. The ALICE Threshold, designed by United Way, incorporates local cost of living factors to better reflect households that make enough money to not qualify for federal assistance programs, but still have difficulty meeting their basic needs. 

“These are households that have an annual income above the federal poverty line, but they cannot afford — or they just can afford the basic necessities,” said Laura Serrano, chief of social demography in the Department of Human Services, who briefed the city’s health committee on the new poverty report on Thursday. “Any crisis, any unexpected expense, puts them at risk.”

In Bexar County, 44% of households fall under the ALICE Threshold; that includes 15% of households living below the poverty line and 29% living on the edge.

The report notes that stagnant wages and rising housing costs put pressure on these households.

The city’s Department of Human Services recommended on Thursday that city leaders prioritize services based on vulnerability, given the limited resources as the city deals with budget woes. They also suggested expanding public-private partnerships and strengthening collaboration with social service providers, among other recommendations.

The city’s health committee members discussed the topic briefly.

Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito (D7), said that it’s especially important now for the city to reassess how it funds local nonprofits.

“The city funds a lot of great nonprofits, but I do think that it’s time for us to kind of take a step back and see how we’re moving the needle and making sure that our residents’ tax dollars are being used wisely and really strategically,” she said.

Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D5) said she was concerned about how a decline in public housing in San Antonio would affect families who are already cost burdened.

The city’s public housing system, Opportunity Home, announced earlier this year that it would transition thousands of public housing units into a new model.

“It seems like we’re — as a body, not city departments — we’re like arsonists and firefighters at the same time,” Castillo said. “We’re saying 51% of renters are cost burdened, but then we’re going to eradicate publicly subsidized housing.”

The topic will go to the City Council for a full discussion, though committee members didn’t decide on when.