10 Poorest Cities in America in 2019

What are the poorest cities in America in 2019? The United States is popular for its opulence and the unimaginable success of its people. Around seven out of the ten richest people in the world are American. These people live in metropolitan areas with the best performing economies in the world. Nonetheless, this is not the story across all of America.

Metropolitan areas in the US have varying median income. For instance, metropolitan areas like San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California (popularly known as Silicon Valley) have mind-blowing median incomes. As per the data from the 2010 US Census, the Silicon Valley Metro area had a median income of $40,392. Nonetheless, some metro areas have per capita income that is almost a joke in comparison to Silicon Valley. A previous ranking of the 25 poorest cities in America has all the evidence.

We are an investment website. Unlike some fund managers who are betting on Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching 40000 within a year, our long-short investment strategy doesn’t rely on bull markets to deliver double digit returns. We only rely on hedge fund buy/sell signals (see our returns here). We also screen for promising stock ideas by running unconventional lists like this one. Companies that focus on environment, social, and governance tend to outperform the market. This is called ESG investing. Companies operating in poorest places in America and helping these communities deal with extreme poverty are likely rewarded by socially conscious investors.

This article undertakes to provide you with a comprehensive list of the top ten poorest cities/metro areas in America. As the methodology of this research, we ranked metro areas that have a population either of 500,000 or above. We used per capita income (median income) as captured by the 2010 US Census. In addition, we retrieved data from Biz Journals and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) concerning the largest employers in every metro area. Therefore, the number one metro area on our list will be the poorest city. Here is the list of the top ten poorest large cities in America.

10. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA

According to the 2010 US Census data, this metro area packs 594,746 people. The data indicated that the median income in the metro area was $18,551. The largest employers in the metro area include Diocese of Youngstown, which operates a church and a school, General Motors, which operates an auto assembly factory, and Infocision, which operates a call center. Youngstown State University is also among the largest employers in the metro area.