Like in other developing countries, population factors in Ethiopia have long beenrnrecognized as among the important variables of development. Urbanization in therncountry is now proceeding in situation where economic development and resourcernavailability are not in congruence wifh requirement of the population.rnSince the last decade or so, Addis Ababa like others cities of the Third world has beenrnexperiencing accelerated population growth rates. During the same period, povertyrnhas also become a serious problem in the city.rnPoverty is a reality that needs to be studied and then eradicated. In order to reducernor eliminate, it is first necessary to have a reliable poverty profile. This study,rntherefor, aims at assessing the condition of poverty in selected Kebeles of centralrnAddis Ababa.rnThe date used in this study was gathered through a questionnaire survey that coveredrn400 households in selected Kebeles o/central Addis Ababa.rnAs the findings oj this study reveal, 47.7% of the overall interviewed households arernbelow the food poverty line(could not afford the cost of minimum food consumptionrnbasket) with an average of about 21% food shortfall (food consumption gap) to teachrnthe food poverty line. Considering total poverty, the incidence of poverty increasedrnto 55.5%, while the total consumption gapCdepth of total poverty)averaged 25.4%. Inrnspite of the variations observed, Kebeles with high incidence, depth and severity ofrnhoth food and total poverty include Kebele 09 Wereda 02, Kebele 13 of Wereda 06,rnKebele 32 of Wereda 07, Kebele 20 of Wereda 09, Kebele 21 of Wereda 14 andrnKebele 20 of We:reda 15 and Kebele 35 of Wereda 18. It also appears from thernfindings of this study that the relative contribution of these Kebeles to the overallrnfeatures of poverty in central Addis Ababa is quit high, which perhaps provide insightrnin to the nation that poverty has Significant regional (spatial) dimension. Evidencernfrom the findings of this study, further indicated important demographic and socioeconomicrncorrects of poverty. Accordingly, poor hOllseholds are mainly those withrnbig household size, headed by females that are widowed, divorced or separated fromrntheir spouses, old. illiterate people or people with low level of education, unemployedrnand retired people and people with iriformal occupations. One could (llso observedrnthe same for households headed by people whose main source of income is withrnremittance ott pension.rnHousing is a highly visible dimension of poverty. Accordingly, it was found thatrnsizeable proportion of poor households live in stnlcturally poor(law quality) rentedrnhousing units under over crowded condition where basic housing facilities andrnamenities are often lucking.