The Current Population Survey was released at the same time as a separate American Community Survey report, which is available for some 7,000 areas, including counties and localities with 65,000 people or more.

Census Bureau director Louis Kincannon said the Census Bureau survey provides a more detailed look at income that is seen as the official source for income and poverty. The ACS, which is replacing the Census Long Form, is used for comparisons at the state and local level, he said. It will eventually include information for the entire nation.

According to the American Community Survey, Utah's rate of child poverty was 10.9 percent, among the nation's lowest. And Utah had the lowest rate of poverty among those ages 65 and older: 6.5 percent.

However, Terry Haven, Voices' KIDS COUNT coordinator, was among those who saw the numbers as a disappointment.

"The anti-poverty programs that we're using are not having the effect that we want, so it's time to start looking at some other things," Haven said.

The organization will lobby for a state-level Earned Income Tax Credit during the upcoming legislative session. The method would be fairly simple, Wilhelm said, based on a certain percentage, perhaps 10 percent, of the federal credit. For instance, a person who received a $4,000 federal credit would also get $400 back from the state.

Previous attempts at such a tax credit have passed in both the Utah Senate and House, but funding for the measure has never been approved.

"I think there's plenty of people that support it, (and) I think this current data shows us how desperately we need it," Wilhelm said.

Both census reports are available at www.census.gov

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com; awelling@desnews.com