WASHINGTON - Poverty rate in the United States is at its highest level since 1993, the Census Bureau said Tuesday, releasing a set of gloomy figures that show median household income declined and poverty rate increased.

According to the bureau, in 2010, real median household income in the United States was $49,445, a 2.3 percent decline from the 2009 median. The nation's official poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1 percent, up from 14.3 percent in 2009 - the third consecutive annual increase in the poverty rate, and the highest since 1993.

There were 46.2 million Americans living in poverty in 2010, up from 43.6 million in 2009 - the fourth consecutive annual increase and the largest number in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been published.

Moreover, the number of people without health insurance coverage rose from 49 million in 2009 to 49.9 million in 2010, while the percentage without coverage - 16.3 percent - was not statistically different from the rate in 2009.

These findings were contained in a report titled Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010. The results of the report were compiled from information collected in the 2011 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement.