These 16 poorest neighborhoods in America are very far from achieving the American Dream.
In fact, they are quite the opposite. These are neighborhoods with extremely high unemployment rates and infested with crime and drugs, yet too poor to afford law enforcement needed to solve those issues. Hardly what the Founding Fathers had in mind or when the poet wrote: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” So, how did this happen? How did it come to pass that in the richest country in human history there are people living in conditions similar to those in a third world country, in small towns that are resembling those we see in documentaries asking us for international aid, abandoned by all who had even a hint of possibility elsewhere?
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As usual with complex problems, there isn’t a simple answer to that question. Some of the poorest neighborhoods in America were always poor, like Blackwater. Some would even go as far as to say they are poor by design. Some haven’t been really poor, but then the economy changed and jobs vanished overnight, leaving the population stranded like a ship in low tide. The difference is, in few hours, the tide will return, but in many cases, jobs are already in China, performed by a much cheaper workforce. Other poor towns were based on a sole commodity, often a mining resource like coal or gold, and when those ran out, so did the prosperity. Add the disastrous effects of the 2008 economic crisis to the mix and it gets really easy to see why a single reason can’t be pinpoint for the poverty that is ravaging these neighborhoods.
What is even more baffling is the question why people stay in these towns. Chris McGreal of the Guardian did an excellent mini-series on four of the poorest towns in America (all four appear on our list), which offers great insight into why people stick around and not move away, like so many of their former neighbors. Whether it is a fear of change, unwillingness to uproot oneself and one’s family or good old-fashioned pride (or stubbornness), people living in these neighborhoods cling on to their homes, regardless of how difficult living is or if their town is among the Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in America.
We used data from American Community Survey of United States Census Bureau in order to rank the poorest neighborhoods in America. The population limit we decided was the best is 1,000 residents, since anything smaller than that can skew results significantly and leave too big of a margin of error. We also omitted all university towns from our list, as they aren’t really neighborhoods in the sense we are looking for. Here is what we came up with.
16. Morgantown, Kentucky
Population: 2,394
Median Household Income: $14,916
The seat of Butler County, Morgantown doesn’t have much to offer in terms of jobs and employment. In fact, some 72% of the entire Butler County commutes to work outside the county. Those who don’t are earning wages that are well below state’s average. But there’s some great catfishing on Green River, with a tournament held every year.
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15. Ferriday, Louisiana
Population: 3,511
Median Household Income: $14,662
The birthplace of Jerry Lee Lewis came to national attention in 2012, when a large police operation resulted in 30 drug-related arrests. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if it weren’t for Ferriday’s resident’s reaction, which was baffling. They were angry because the police were messing with the only stable industry in the town, production and distribution of crystal meth.
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14. Meigs, Georgia
Population: 1,035
Median Household Income: $14,583
You know the town is poor when a mayor is arrested and sentenced for theft of $80, while in office. Linda Harris was sentenced to community service for a crime she committed while she was a mayor of Meigs. Then she was arrested again for filing false documents claiming free legal representation. 45% of the population lives below poverty line.
Pixabay/Public Domain
13. Clarks, Louisiana
Population: 1,017
Median Household Income: $14,479
The average house value in Clarks is about one-third of the Louisiana’s average. It would be a great news for people looking to buy a house in a small farming neighborhood, but unfortunately, rarely someone does. Comparatively, low percentage of the population lives under the poverty line, some 28%.
Pixabay/Public Domain
12. Melville, Louisiana
Population: 1,041
Median Household Income: $14,328
Atchafalaya River Catfish Capital of Louisiana doesn’t have much else to offer except fishing. Back in a day, it was one of the most important industries in town and some 50 barrels of fish were shipped daily, and now it is just one of the poorest neighborhoods in America. Highway 105, famous for the last scene from Easy Riders, goes through town.
Pixabay/Public Domain
11. Las Palmas-Juarez, Texas
Population: 1,605
Median Household Income: $13,750
With some 45% of the population living below poverty line, Las Palmas-Juarez is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Texas.
Pixabay/Public Domain
10. Sneedville, Tennessee
Population: 1,387
Median Household Income: $13,719
Jimmy Martin, King of Bluegrass, is one of the few notable Sneedville natives, a town with more than a third of the population lives under the poverty line.
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9. Cullen, Louisiana
Population: 1,163
Median Household Income: $13,711
A part of Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area, 40% of Cullen’s population lives under the poverty line. The statistic is even worse for those under 18, with 52% of them living in poverty.
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8. Campti, Louisiana
Population: 1,056
Median Household Income: $13,693
Located on one square mile of Natchitoches Parish, Campti is the oldest settlement in the parish. It is also the poorest neighborhood in Louisiana, with 45% of the population living below poverty line.
Pixabay/Public Domain
7. Yanceyville, North Carolina
Population: 2,039
Median Household Income: $13,505
Half of the population of the county seat of Caswell County lives in poverty making this on of the poorest neighborhoods in America. Yanceyville was once a prosperous town, a fact witnessed by many beautiful buildings located in downtown, but the times have changed for worse for its residents.
Pixabay/Public Domain
6. Jamestown, Tennessee
Population: 1,959
Median Household Income: $13,060
Jamestown, one of the poorest neighborhoods in America is famous for their own private Civil War, during the American Civil War. Both pro-Confederate and pro-Union residents formed their own armed guerillas, which fought each other relentlessly, with neither side being officially part of either army. With 35% of the population living below poverty line, current residents have other things to worry about today.
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5. Tchula, Mississippi
Population: 2,096 Median
Household Income: $12,806
When Chris McGreal visited Tchula, he noted that the town is so poor that even the sheriff has a second job, as the town can’t pay him a living wage. Out of two patrol cars, one is used only during the day, because the police department can’t afford to repair lights. Both cars are used, got as donations from larger and wealthier police departments in Mississippi. Almost the entire population is African American, descendants of former slaves and sharecroppers. White residents are long gone and they took the jobs with them, jobs that Tchula desperately needs. Almost 55% of populations live in poverty.
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4. Wolf Point, Montana
Population: 1,307
Median Household Income: $12,361
The number four on our list of poorest neighborhoods in America, the Wolf Point, is a rare example of a neighborhood in the north of the poorest towns in America. The county seat of Roosevelt County doesn’t have much in a way of industry, or economy, for that matter. About half of its population are Native Americans. Less than 20% of Wolf Point’s residents live below poverty line, which is among the lowest poverty rates in our list.
Pixabay/Public Domain
3. Beattyville, Kentucky
Population: 1,307
Median Household Income: $12,336
Second Kentucky town and a neighborhood covered by America’s Poorest Towns series, Beattyville is flush with drug abuse, mostly painkillers AKA hillbilly heroin. The Appalachian town has high 40% poverty rates, but it wasn’t always so. Just a few decades back, coal and oil were a big part of economic prosperity, but once those ran out or became economically unfeasible, prosperity turned into poverty. Just a few monumental buildings in Beattyville’s center now stand as reminders of once promising and charming mountain town.
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2. Muniz, Texas
Population: 1,106
Median Household Income: $11,711
About half of the population in Colonia Muñiz aren’t born in America, most likely in Mexico. A vast majority of the other half are their children. A neighborhood of illegal immigrants, Muniz is surrounded by fields of coriander and parsley, a must-have in Mexican cuisine and a source of livelihood got many of its inhabitants. A staggering 86% of the population lives below the poverty line. Nine out of ten of those under the age of 18 also live in poverty.
Pixabay/Public Domain
1. Blackwater, AZ
Population: 1,062
Median Household Income: $9,491
Despite the influx of money from the nearby casinos, which mostly manifests itself as free housing, Blackwater, a small Native American community in Arizona, remains one of the poorest neighborhoods in America, measured by the median household income. There simply aren’t enough jobs to go around and those precious few that exist are typically paid much lower compared to national average. Blackwater is one of the towns covered by Chris McGreal in his America’s Poorest Towns series.
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