The most recent [official] poverty statistics from the US Census Bureaus are from 2005.  During that year, there were 37 million Americans affected by poverty (nearing 13% of the US population).  Those numbers are outrageous for the fact that, in short, poverty consists of anyone living below US living standards.  

Poverty Among the Races and Ages
These poverty rates remained statistically unchanged for Blacks (25%) and Hispanics (22%). However, the poverty rate has decreased for non-Hispanic Whites (8.3% in 2005, down from 8.7% in 2004). Meanwhile, the poverty rate in 2005 for children under 18 (17.6%) remained higher than that of 18-to-64-year-olds (11%) and that of people 65 and older (10%), all of which were unchanged from 2004’s results. 

The Technical Poverty Calculator
With help from the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive 14, the US Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is affected by poverty.  If a family’s total income is less than the family’s threshold, then that family, and every individual in it, is considered in poverty.  The official poverty thresholds do not vary geographically, but they are updated for inflation using Consumer Price Index.

The official poverty definition uses money income before taxes and does not include capital gains or noncash benefits (such as public housing, Medicaid, and food stamps). The lines of poverty are found through calculations of monetary income and through the measure of need (dependent on the size of family and the ages of the members). For individual members, the same calculations apply.  However, if a family is found in poverty, each member of that family under one house is considered living in poverty at the same level.   

For example, based on the OMB calculator, if a family has five members (two children, a mother, a father, and a grandparent) living under one roof and, collectively, they make an approximate of $25,000 between two working members of the five-member household, then the family’s income is above the threshold limit (calculated for this specific family at $23,108 for need and income, inclusive of all five members).  The family comes out ahead of the poverty limit. 
 
Any family or individual that has calculated their yearly income (based on needs) to be more than their calculated threshold set by the OMB, then they are not in poverty.  If their yearly income is less than their threshold calculations, then they are living in poverty. 

The difference (in dollars) between family income and the family's poverty threshold is called the Income Deficit (for families in poverty) or Income Surplus (for families above poverty). 

Living Without Status
There are people in the US unaccounted for living in or out of poverty. These people do not have a determined poverty status due to their living conditions/arrangements. For example, foster children and children under 15 years of age, not living with a family member and without official income results, are prime examples of people unaccounted for due to lack of income results.  As well, people placed in institutional group quarters, such as prisons or nursing homes,  and college dorms or military barracks are also without an account for poverty status.