A September 19 Cumberland-Times News article examines what may happen to Maryland’s poverty rate when the United States Census Bureau releases its updated poverty figures in late September.

The nation’s poverty rate ticked up last year, according to figures released Thursday, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Maryland’s figures will follow suit, experts said. …

The national poverty rate increased to 14.3 percent in 2009, compared to 13.2 percent in 2008, the new Census Bureau numbers show.

Although the Census Bureau will not release state data until late September, the poverty rate in the South, which includes Maryland, increased from 14.3 percent to 15.7 percent. Based on the previous year’s data and regional data, Maryland’s poverty rate is also likely to increase. …

However, Maryland’s poverty rate is usually well below the national rate. In 2008, the state’s rate was the second lowest in the country at 8.1 percent, according to the Census Bureau’s most recent data. New Hampshire had a 7.6 percent poverty rate. …

About 5 percent of Maryland families are living below the poverty level, according to 2006-2008 data.