The percentage of people living in or near poverty is a measure of the overall economic health of a region. It also indicates the level of need for social and government supports.

In 2017-21, 10% of Brookline residents had incomes below the poverty level, including 6% with incomes less than half of the poverty level. These individuals are considered to live in extreme poverty. Another 7% of residents had incomes between 100% and 199% of the poverty level, 7% had incomes between 200% and 299% of poverty, and 76% had incomes above that level.

Among comparison localities, Arlington and Newton had smaller shares of people below the poverty level than Brookline, while Everett and Cambridge had higher shares. Everett had noticeably higher percentages of people with incomes between 100% and 199% of poverty level and between 200% and 299% of poverty level than other localities.

The multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined 5 years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with 3 asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval). The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator are expected to be released annually in December.