Poverty has been regarded as a typical feature of most households in Ethiopia.rnBut the poor constitute significant differences among themselves as poverty itselfrnis more subj ective and re lative concept. The study attempted to analyse majorrncharacteristics of urban poor households by taking an empirical case study ofrnone administrative unit (wereda) from Addis Ababa.rnThe study tries to asses the various estimates of poverty made particularly afterrnthe period of transition. There are no clear indications of declining povertyrnparticularly in urban areas. The need for further study and much greater effort forrnpoverty alleviation is marked by some of the recent studies. This study sharesrnthe same views based on the survey results of selected urban households inrnwereda 11Addis Ababa.rnIt is also noted that conscious and deliberate measures of poverty reductionrnshould lie at the centre of any development strategy. However such measurernrequires knowledge about characteristics and magnitude of the poor. Thereforernthis paper is an attempt to investigate major characteristics of poverty at a micrornscale