The main objective of this article is to apply different methodologies for measuring absolute income poverty in urban sectors in Chile between 1940 and 1992. The methodological perspective combines the food share method of ECLAC, the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) poverty measurements, and Prados de la Escosura's proposal. The research shows that: 1) the ISI model initially reduces poverty but stagnates at the end of World War II; 2) in the 1950s, the crisis overshadows the advances of the previous decade; 3) between 1964 and 1971, there is a significant recovery from poverty; 4) during the military government (1973-1990), after overcoming the inflation crisis of the seventies, poverty returns to historical levels present since World War II and then gradually decreases from 1983 onwards.