The Republican Party Southern Strategy and Its Impact on High-Poverty States. How Political Manipulation and Systemic Policies Keep the South in Poverty. U.S. States With The Highest Poverty Rates Below is a list of U.S. states with the highest poverty rates, along with their political leanings based on recent presidential elections. Poverty rates are based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2016–2020). Political leanings are determined by the results of recent pres