Today we present you 7 poorest cities in California, the eight largest economy in the world with GDP of $2.31 trillion, which despite its affluence has the greatest percent of people living below poverty line.
According to latest Census’s official poverty measures, 16.4 percent of Golden State’s residents are labeled as poor, which is a little above the national average of 15.5. The number puts California into the category of poorer but not the poorest states. However, in 2011 Census Bureau introduced Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), which was designed to overcome shortcomings of the traditional and much-criticized way of establishing the number of most vulnerable Americans. According to alternative measure, California was the poorest state three years in the raw with 23.4 percent of all Californians qualifying as poor.
One of the main differences between official and supplemental poverty measures is that former take into account regional differences in costs of living, mainly housing prices. There is an evident correlation between poverty rates under alternative measures and amounts of money necessary for renting an apartment. Seven of ten states that recorded the highest increase in poverty are among 10 most expensive rental markets. Although the latest SPM does not provide data on poverty rates for individual states, it can be assumed that nothing much has changed in California. High housing prices, which are mainly due to restrictive land use policy, continue to drive many Californians into poverty.
To find out which are 7 poorest cities in California we ranked 131 California places by percent of residents living in poverty using latest data from American Community Survey. While this ranking is solely based on the share of the total population living below poverty line, our previous list 16 poorest small cities in America 2015 took into account three criteria – poverty and unemployment rates, and real GDP per capita. Seven of 16 ranked small cities are located in California, while one found a place on both lists.
7. Stockton City
Total population: 302,389
Number of people living below poverty line: 83,367
Percent of population living below poverty line: 28.1
In 2011, Stockton city ranked first on Forbes list Most Miserable cities, while Wallethub named it the worst place to find a job in 2016. Median household income of $40,993 is almost $13,000 less than the national average, while African Americans are the most economically disadvantaged group. Almost half of all black people living in the city qualify as poor, which doesn’t come as a surprise given the fact that median household income among the group is little more than $22,000. In 2012, the city declared bankruptcy which led to numerous cuts across services, reduction in health benefits and pensions. Four years later things are improving as the city has managed to ensure significant budget surplus.
FEMA/ Michael Raphael
6. Lancaster City
Total population: 159,523
Number of people living below poverty line: 43,569
Percent of population below poverty line: 28.3
In the last five years, the poverty rate has significantly increased in Lancaster. While in 2010 the poor accounted for 18.9 percent of total population, latest estimates show that 28.3 percent of residents live below poverty line. Like in other listed places, the most vulnerable group are African Americans whose median household income is $24,139, almost half of median household earnings in the city. Although low housing prices might seem attractive (average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $940), scarcity of job opportunities and crime rate of 194.2 per 10,000 residents are driving people away from the city.
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5. Davis City
Total population: 66,205
Number of people living below poverty line: 18,499
Percent of total population living below poverty line: 28.5
Davis, home to University California Davis, has a large student population which affects statistical data about the city. On one side, median household income of $53,678 is at the level of the national average while only 5.5 percent of families live below poverty line, which is significantly lower compared to other listed places. Still, almost third of Davis’s residents are labeled as poor. The difference in the numbers is the result of the significant income gap between student and non-student population. While the first group falls on the lower end of the income scale, the second group sufficiently to increase median household income for the whole city. Thus, unlike in other listed places, high poverty rate in Davis does not reflect the lack of employment opportunities or poor salaries.
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4. Victorville City
Total population: 121,096
Number of people living below poverty line: 32,826
Percent of total population living below poverty line: 28.5
With nearly 33,000 residents living below poverty line, Victorville ranks as fourth on our list of 7 poorest cities in California. Among those who are struggling to survive, children under the age of 18 account for greatest percent, while residents older than 65 are at risk of falling into poverty. As poverty rises, median household income goes down. In the last five years, median household earnings have fallen from $52,000 to $43,589 while the percent of the poor has climbed from 20.8 to 28.5 percent. Furthermore, according to some estimates around one-third of the total city’s population receives some kind of government assistance.
3. Fresno City
Total population: 509,924
Number of people living below poverty line: 154,382
Percent of total population living below poverty line: 30.5
Not only that Fresno is one of the poorest Golden State’s cities, but it is also the place where poverty-based segregation is extremely pronounced. Century Foundation study, which examined characteristics of the poorest neighborhoods, ranked Fresno among ten places with the highest percent of the poor living in the most deprived parts of the city. More than half of all poor African Americans live in impoverished neighborhoods; Hispanic concentration of poverty is 43 percent, and non-Hispanic white is 19.6. The city also has the third lowest median household income of $39,880, while median earnings in the black community are $23,304.
2. Merced
Total population: 81,102
Number of people living below poverty line: 24,691
Percent of total population living below poverty line: 30.7
Merced is the only city on the list which saw a significant decline in the number of poor residents. American Community Survey estimates for 2013 showed that there were 35.1 people living below poverty line, while one year later the percentage dropped down to 30.7. At the same time, median household income grew by $4,000. In spite of the improvements, the number of homeless people is on the rise, while the number of young people leaving the city remains high. Still, like many other Californian cities, Merced records population increase year after year mainly because of low housing prices.
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1. San Bernardino
Total population: 213,708
Number of people living below poverty line: 70,185
Percent of total population living below poverty line: 33.9
San Bernardino occupies first place among 7 poorest cities in California. The city went bankrupt in 2012 with $50 million budget shortfall. The financial crises forced cuts across services, including reductions in police force, which has raised doubts whether last year’s mass shooting could have been better handled if there had been more police officers on the streets. The poverty rate slightly declined with the percent of city’s residents living below poverty line falling from 34.4 to 33.9. Earlier this year city’s officials announced that San Bernardino would emerge from the bankruptcy by the end of the year, recent setbacks in the implementation of recovery plan might cause delays.
