The national poverty rate in 2010 hit 15.1 percent — the highest level since 1993, according to a report Tuesday from the Census Bureau.

The report also indicated that median household income, adjusted for inflation, was lower last year than any year since 1997.

The census found 46.2 million Americans were living in poverty last year. Since the census began tracking poverty figures in 1959, never have more people been recorded living in poverty, and only once — in 1983 — since 1965 has the poverty rate been recorded higher than 15.1 percent.

For a family of four, the census set the poverty line at a combined annual income of $22,314. For a single person, the level is set at id="mce_marker"1,139.

The nation’s median household income last year was $49,445, 2.3 percent lower than 2009 levels.

The report also found the percentage of people covered by private health insurance dropped slightly, from 64.5 percent to 64.0 percent, while the percentage covered by government health insurance increased from 30.6 percent to 31.0 percent.

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