Smaller US cities might not often be perceived as the backbone of the American economy, and following 16 poorest small cities in America certainly aren’t. However, this isn’t a universal occurrence, and one only has to remember the small Texas cities of Odessa and Midland in order to figure out that they too can be important economic and industry growth hubs. Small towns like these, however, are very few and far in between. More often than not, small towns don’t offer ample of opportunities that large metro hubs do, and sometimes it’s even worse than that as you’re about to see after consulting our list.
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All of the aforementioned doesn’t have to mean that every large city in America is doing better than smaller areas. To the contrary. Some larger metro areas are truly struggling with poverty, unemployment and below average salaries for a number of reasons. Some of them have never recuperated after loss or downfall of their main industry like Detroit, Cleveland or Youngstown for instance. Others have fallen upon rough times after the recent recession of 2008 and downfall of the housing market. You can check our 16 poorest metropolitan cities in America: 2015 list in order to get a grasp on the situation with larger metros yourself.
For purposes of this list, we have used three main criteria. Real per capita GDP income for metro statistical area has been obtained from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In order to give you a better insight into how things are going long-term, we have calculated the average income between the last couple of available years, which are 2013 and 2014 in this instance. The second criterion has been obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and it’s unemployment rate for respective smaller metro areas. Finally, poverty rates have been pulled from Congressional Research Service’s report, published on January 29, 2015. Be advised that numbers for country’s metro areas start in the appendix or more precisely – from the page 52. All metros on this 16 poorest small cities in America: 2015 list will be assigned points from 1 to 10 for all three given categories. Needless to say, those with most points in the end will find their way to this list. Of course, the smaller the GDP per capita, the more points the city will get. We are looking for the poorest ones after all. However, things work differently with unemployment and poverty rates. The bigger they are, the more points city gets. Finally, unlike the large metro areas which have more than 500,000 inhabitants, small cities and metros are those with less than 500,000 people living within their borders.
16. Homosassa Springs, FL
Like most cities and towns in Florida, Homosassa Springs too lives mostly off of tourism industry. Homosassa Springs metro area encompasses most of Florida’s Citrus county, but it still features less than 140,000 inhabitants. While average per capita GDP in Homosassa Springs comes to $20,552, almost one sixth of the population lives on less than that according to Sperling’s estimates. Unemployment and poverty rates aren’t that promising either as they amount to 6.6% and 16.8% respectively.
15. Pine Bluff, AR
Neatly located beside one of many bends in the Arkansas River, Pine Bluff seems like a perfect place to live. At least, it would have been if its economy wasn’t as weak as it currently is. Almost 100,000 people in Pine Bluff’s metro area earn $29,521 on average when it comes to GDP per capita which is below the national average. The unemployment rate of 6.7% is worse than in most American cities as well, and the poverty rate of 24.4% fits that profile too. All this could change soon enough, though. Pine Bluff is currently considered as the premiere location for a large gas-to-liquids processing facility which might just employ around 5,000 people and bring $333 million in annual labor income. If this ends up to be true, expect Pine Bluff to avoid all future lists like these for foreseeable future.
14. Chico, CA
Town of Chico is located on the California State Route 99 which connects Redding and Sacramento. It’s only one of cities and unincorporated areas in Butte County which compose this 220,000 people metro area with others being Paradise, Oroville, Durham, etc. With all the positives which include California State University, Chico among others – Chico still lacks the means to avoid being ranked on this list. Real per capita GDP average amounts to $27,463 while unemployment and poverty rates come to 7% and 21.5% respectively. Small California town will have to do a lot better than that if it’s about to rise in prominence – economically speaking.
13. Laredo, TX
Laredo’s metro area consists of around 260,000 citizens who earn $26,167 on average when it comes to per capita GDP. Needless to say, that’s way below the national average, but, at least, the unemployment rate of 4.5% is somewhat encouraging. On the other hand, when you have 31.1% of inhabitants living below the poverty line, something is definitely wrong. That’s almost one-third of the population or around 80,000 people no less. With that in mind, almost one-fifth of the population lives on less than $15,000 a year. Go figure!
12. Sebring, FL
Sebring might be a quaint little town surrounded by lakes, but there’s nothing nice when it comes to its overall economy – just as there weren’t many niceties circulating around Chrysler’s mid-size car with the same name. To cut the story short, Sebring’s inhabitants earn as low as $17,324 – second lowest median per capita GDP on this 16 poorest small cities in America: 2015 list. At the same time, poverty rate soars as high as 18.8%, while unemployment rate comes to rather high 6.3%. For around 100,000 people living in Sebring’s metro area, these figures are certainly demeaning.
11. Yuba City, CA
Located between already mentioned Chico and Sacramento, Yuba City is another Sacramento Valley metro on this list. 165,000 or so Yuba City’s citizens earn per capita $28,051 on average while poverty rate in the metro reaches 18.7% mark. More important, however, is a chronic unemployment which is evident by the 10.6% rate. It comes as no surprise then, that one-fifth of the population earns up to $20,000 a year and not a cent more.
Yuba City High School sign.
10. Yakima, WA
Close to 250,000 people call Yakima metro home and their per capita GDP of $30,440 isn’t above the national average mark. Same as it is the case with Yuba City, Yakima in Washington too has chronic unemployment rate of 10.2%, and poverty is even worse – coming to unhealthy 20.8%. This means that one-fifth of the population lives below the poverty threshold. With that kind of data, it isn’t too hard to imagine the quality of life in and around Yakima.
9. Hanford – Corcoran, CA
Hanford – Corcoran metro of some 135,000 people is located between Fresno and Bakersfield, which too can’t boast with great quality of life – on the contrary. Real per capita GDP of this California metro isn’t as low as it tends to be in other small cities on this list. While $29,982 do look like a healthy figure compared to other ones on the list, the unemployment rate of 10.9% and the poverty rate of 21.4% paint a different kind of picture.
8. Las Cruces, NM
Average per capita GDP in Las Cruces doesn’t surpass the $27,669 mark. Even with 6.9% unemployment rate and recent positive trends in that department, Las Cruces manages to make our 16 poorest small cities in America: 2015 list. Why? Because a large part of metro’s inhabitants – 27.8% of some 210,000 people live below the poverty line.
7. Madera, CA
A few miles due northwest of Fresno – Madera metro boasts a population of some 145,000 people. All those people can’t boast with average per capita GDP of $26,016, but the unemployment rate of 10.1% and the poverty rate of 23.6% are even worse. It’s no wonder why this California town makes the list – especially considering that almost 15% of people survive on less than $15,000 a year.
Robert Campbell, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
6. Lake Havasu City – Kingman, AZ
With median per capita GDP of $17,253, Lake Havasu City – Kingman agglomeration rates the lowest on our list. Even the unemployment rate of 7.6% and the poverty rate of 21.2% which aren’t that disastrous compared to some other metros on the list don’t help this metro from ranking as high as it does here. At least 200,000 people or so in Lake Havasu City – Kingman metro have the genuine London Bridge if precious little else.
5. Yuma, AZ
It’s a wide-known fact that people in Arizona generally earn less than other people across the states. Yuma is another example of that as per capita GDP here doesn’t amount to more than $23,961. The poverty rate of 17.8% actually doesn’t look that bad since the national average for 2013 amounts to 15.8%. However, the unemployment rate of staggering 18% is by far second largest in the country, and Yuma clearly deserves a spot on this infamous list thanks to it. Sadly, this makes life miserable to quite a large percentage of metro’s 200,000 or so inhabitants.
4. El Centro, CA
El Centro is nicely tucked away between a couple of lakes – the Salton Sea and Laguna Salada. It’s also right on California – Arizona – Mexico border, and since it’s close to Yuma, AZ – it’s evident why it makes the list. Average GDP per capita amounts to only $26,939, but 165,000 people or so have other worries on their mind as well. Apart from having large 22.1% poverty rate, El Centro features the largest unemployment rate in the country. 19.6% or almost 33,000 people in and around El Centro are unemployed.
3. Merced, CA
It’s a strange trend since Merced is quite close to the rich Silicon Valley, but close to 260,000 people or so in and around Merced earn $23,412. That’s the real per capita GDP figure, actually. The unemployment rate of 11.9% is another problem for the gateway to Yosemite, and so is poverty rate of 25.2%.
Ron Johnson
2. Brownsville – Harlingen, TX
This is one of the largest small cities that make this infamous list of poorest metros in America. More than 410,000 people can’t really boast with high per capita GDP figure which amounts to $20,022. While the unemployment rate of 6.9% doesn’t look that serious – at least not compared to some other cities on this list, the poverty rate of 32.5% is more than serious. It’s the largest poverty rate percentage in the country and if you’re unaware of its ramifications, just consider the following – around 135,000 people in this Texas – Mexico border metro live below the poverty line.
1. Visalia – Porterville, CA
Visalia – Porterville is yet another California Central Valley metro that makes this 16 poorest small cities in America: 2015 list. This San Joaquin Valley metro is also the largest on this list with around 450,000 inhabitants. Real per capita GDP here is as low as $25,639, but poverty and unemployment rates are even worse. 30.1% of people in Visalia – Porterville live below the poverty line while 12.2% of them are unemployed. These are way too serious figures and thanks to them, Visalia – Porterville tops our list of poorest small American metro areas.
