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The poorest town in every state

Started by txstateends, August 13, 2018, 11:07:56 AM

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txstateends

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/the-poorest-town-in-every-state/ss-AAwE9MH

List is compiled by 24/7 Wall St., so throw the eggs and tomatoes at them (unless they're correct)....

Selma, AL
Ketchikan City, AK
South Tucson, AZ
Camden, AR
Clearlake, CA
Sterling, CO
Willimantic, CT
Smyrna, DE
Brownsville, FL
Cordele, GA
Wahiawa, HI
Rupert, ID
Centreville, IL (poorest in US)
Brazil, IN
Lamoni, IA
Belleville, KS
Glasgow, KY
Ville Platte, LA
Eastport, ME
Cumberland, MD
Webster, MA
Hamtramck, MI
Bemidji, MN
Indianola, MS
Mountain View, MO
Deer Lodge, MT
Red Cloud, NE
Laughlin, NV
Berlin, NH
Crestwood Village, NJ
Deming, NM
New Square, NY
Mount Olive, NC
Ellendale, ND
East Cleveland, OH
Arkoma, OK
Reedsport, OR
Johnstown, PA
Central Falls, RI
Belton, SC
Vermillion, SD
Lafayette, TN
Fabens, TX
Brigham City, UT
Bellows Falls, VT
Hillsville, VA
Chewelah, WA
Weston, WV
Whitewater, WI
Thermopolis, WY
\/ \/ click for a bigger image \/ \/


jeffandnicole

Crestwood Village, NJ isn't a town; it's just a part of Manchester Township.

So take it from there in regards to how worthy this list is.

froggie

"Median Annual Household Income"

That appears to be all they looked at.

jon daly

Willimantic is actually a city within Windham, Conn. I'm not sure if its the poorest town, but it's the least urban poor zip code, ottomh in Conn.. There may be some urban bias at play here.

abefroman329

Quote from: froggie on August 13, 2018, 11:55:37 AM
"Median Annual Household Income"

That appears to be all they looked at.
Is there a better metric?

jon daly

Btw, I drove through Willimantic a couple of weekends ago. It looks better than it has in the past, but I think we have a member here who actually lives there.

Max Rockatansky

South Tucson is about as bad as it gets.  There is an old story from a discount motel that went bad for an employee of mine back in 2011.  He got blocked by a dust storm and didn't want to take AZ 79 home.  Instead of getting a decent hotel he stayed at a $19.99 motel in South Tucson. Ended bailing out at 2 AM after hearing gun shots in the nearby vicinity to his room. 

slorydn1

I don't have any numbers to base what I'm thinking on, but it's going to be hard to convince me that Mount Olive is poorer than any number of small, run down, in the middle of nowhere towns in NC. There is a 4 year university in Mount Olive, for heavens sake. It's not a very large one compared to others in the this half of the state, but it is there nonetheless.


I wonder if the dorms there are being factored in as "households" for this list. Then I guess could see it if there were a bunch of students with either no job or a minimum wage part time job pulling the median down.
Please Note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of any governmental agency, non-governmental agency, quasi-governmental agency or wanna be governmental agency

Counties: Counties Visited

tribar

I'm shocked Illinois's isn't Cairo.

froggie

#9
Quote from: abefroman329 on August 13, 2018, 12:28:39 PM
Quote from: froggie on August 13, 2018, 11:55:37 AM
"Median Annual Household Income"

That appears to be all they looked at.
Is there a better metric?

Yes.  Looking at multiple metrics, for starters.  Looking at the range of income versus just the median.  Comparing the AVERAGE income to the median.  Looking at cost of living to go with income.  For example, if two towns have $X as their median income but cost of living in one town is 20% higher.  The list goes on.

(EDIT) Another thing with just using median is that it doesn't tell the whole story.  For an illustrative story, say you have three towns with 5 wage earners each.  Town A's workers make 5, 10, 20, 22, 24.  Town B's workers make 16, 18, 20, 22, 24.  Town C's workers make 18, 20, 20, 40, 70.  Per statistics, all three towns have the same median income, but all have a different story.

Flint1979

I have a hard time believing that Hamtramck is Michigan's poorest city. Benton Harbor or Highland Park would be my choice.

Flint1979

Quote from: tribar on August 13, 2018, 01:04:55 PM
I'm shocked Illinois's isn't Cairo.
So am I. I drove through Cairo about 4 years ago and thought to myself well I'm at the dead bottom of Illinois in land and I guess cities too lol.

hbelkins

Glasgow, Ky., can't be right. Neither can Weston, WV. There's a whole lot more poverty-stricken towns in both states.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Rothman

Median is favored nationally because of the skew of the data.  Froggie's got a good point that it may not be the best at more localized levels.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

Big John

Whitewater WI is a college town.  Not sure how much that skews the results.

SP Cook

Quote from: hbelkins on August 13, 2018, 01:54:42 PM
Glasgow, Ky., can't be right. Neither can Weston, WV. There's a whole lot more poverty-stricken towns in both states.

Agree.

hotdogPi

Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

abefroman329

Quote from: Big John on August 13, 2018, 02:45:39 PM
Whitewater WI is a college town.  Not sure how much that skews the results.
Is there another college there besides UW-Whitewater?

jp the roadgeek

Quote from: jon daly on August 13, 2018, 11:59:33 AM
Willimantic is actually a city within Windham, Conn. I'm not sure if its the poorest town, but it's the least urban poor zip code, ottomh in Conn.. There may be some urban bias at play here.

Willimantic is no longer a city.  It is a Census Designated Place within the town of Windham.  I figured the poorest town/locale would be somewhere in Windham County. 
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

froggie

QuoteBellows Falls, VT is not a town.

Technically, no.  But it is an incorporated village.

inkyatari

Quote from: Flint1979 on August 13, 2018, 01:39:40 PM
Quote from: tribar on August 13, 2018, 01:04:55 PM
I'm shocked Illinois's isn't Cairo.
So am I. I drove through Cairo about 4 years ago and thought to myself well I'm at the dead bottom of Illinois in land and I guess cities too lol.

I thought it was Hopkins Park.
I'm never wrong, just wildly inaccurate.

jon daly

#21
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on August 13, 2018, 03:41:15 PM
Quote from: jon daly on August 13, 2018, 11:59:33 AM
Willimantic is actually a city within Windham, Conn. I'm not sure if its the poorest town, but it's the least urban poor zip code, ottomh in Conn.. There may be some urban bias at play here.



Willimantic is no longer a city.  It is a Census Designated Place within the town of Windham.  I figured the poorest town/locale would be somewhere in Windham County. 

I would've guessed one of the bigger non-Stamford cities or New London. I know that Hartford has the West End which props it up a bit, but there's not much area for upper-class housing. The suburbs surround it. New London is in a similar boat.

LM117

#22
Quote from: slorydn1 on August 13, 2018, 12:53:31 PM
I don't have any numbers to base what I'm thinking on, but it's going to be hard to convince me that Mount Olive is poorer than any number of small, run down, in the middle of nowhere towns in NC. There is a 4 year university in Mount Olive, for heavens sake. It's not a very large one compared to others in the this half of the state, but it is there nonetheless.


I wonder if the dorms there are being factored in as "households" for this list. Then I guess could see it if there were a bunch of students with either no job or a minimum wage part time job pulling the median down.

Yeah, I'm not quite buying it either. Hell, it's the only town in Wayne County, outside of Goldsboro, that's had any growth in the last 10 years...at least as far as businesses go. Meanwhile the towns in the northern half of the county (Fremont, Pikeville, Eureka) look virtually the same as they did when we first moved there in 1995.
“I don’t know whether to wind my ass or scratch my watch!” - Jim Cornette

Flint1979

Quote from: inkyatari on August 13, 2018, 04:44:29 PM
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 13, 2018, 01:39:40 PM
Quote from: tribar on August 13, 2018, 01:04:55 PM
I'm shocked Illinois's isn't Cairo.
So am I. I drove through Cairo about 4 years ago and thought to myself well I'm at the dead bottom of Illinois in land and I guess cities too lol.

I thought it was Hopkins Park.
Illinois has some strange cities like that. I'd guess at one of the Southland suburbs of Chicago like Harvey, Ford Heights, Markham, Dixmoor or one of those cities but one of the St. Louis suburbs is a pretty good candidate too. Hopkins Park is strange, lots of poverty there and it's in the middle of nowhere.

DandyDan

#24
Whatever the poorest city is in South Dakota,  it most likely isn't Vermillion, home of the University of South Dakota. I would bet on that one being Pine Ridge, or another city on an Indian Reservation. That's probably true for every state with a reservation.
Lamoni, Iowa and Bemidji, Minnesota are also college towns and thus not drawing the short end of the income stick.
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