This report discusses the results of a 1989 poll conducted by the Gallup Organization in which a representative sample of Americans were asked where they would set the poverty line. The poverty line in current use by the Federal Government was created in the mid-1960s, using data from the 1950s. Setting the poverty line involves a basic decision about the minimum standard of living a society considers acceptable, and below which a family should be considered poor. Adults were asked what amount of weekly income they would use as a poverty line for a family of four (husband, wife, and two children) in their community. The following findings are reported: (1) the average figure reported was $15,017 per year, which is $3,000, or 24 percent, higher than the Federal Government's poverty line; (2) responses varied according to whether respondents lived in a metropolitan area or outside of one, and according to the region in which they lived, but the respondents in every area set the poverty line higher than the Federal Government; (3) even if non-cash benefits were counted as income, the number of people considered poor according to the respondent's poverty line would be substantially higher than under the government's poverty measure, which does not count non-cash benefits. This discrepancy between the government's poverty measure and that recommended by the American public indicates the need for a re-examination of where to set the poverty line and what to count as income. Statistical data are included on eight tables and one graph. A list of 38 references is appended. (FMW)