Ipums USA 2016 ACS
It sounds like you are looking at the POVERTY variable. In this variable the values represent the value of each family’s total income (for the previous year) as a percentage of the poverty threshold (as defined by the Social Security Administration). As explained on the description tab, if a person’s family income is $20,000 and the poverty threshold for such a person is $13,861, then the value of POVERTY for that individual is $20,000/$13,861 * 100 percent, or 144. So, values below 100 indicate the family is below the poverty line, and values above 100 indicate the family is above the poverty line.
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