The lack of comparable urban definitions across countries  has presented a significant challenge in effectively addressing poverty in both urban and rural areas. This study aims to  tackle this issue by comparing subnational poverty statistics  across countries, integrating internationally consistent definitions of urban areas into the World Bank’s official global  poverty measurement framework. Focusing primarily on  16 Sub-Saharan African countries, the analysis reveals that  poverty rates tend to be lower in densely populated urban  areas. However, the findings also highlight that urban areas  have a higher concentration of impoverished populations  than previously estimated. These results underscore the  importance of employing consistent urban definitions in  cross-country poverty analysis and call for a reevaluation of  geographically targeted policies to expedite poverty reduction efforts.