There are many wealthy towns and cities in America, and unfortunately there also are many poor ones. 24/7 Wall St. has featured many wealthy and impoverished states, counties, cities and towns, based upon wealth and poverty. It turns out that of the poorest towns in America, Michigan’s cities and towns overly dominated all other states with seven of the 25 featured.
Poor economic conditions and high unemployment rates are typical of many of the poorest towns in America. That is more or less the same in much of Michigan, but in April 2016 the statewide unemployment rate was at a one-year low of only 4.8%. For a reference, throughout this city and town ranking, the jobless rate in 17 of the 25 poorest towns exceeded 6.0%, and many exceed 10% unemployment.
Now consider how the poorest towns and cities stacked up against the wealthiest in America. The jobless rates in all the 25 richest towns are all lower than 5%. In some of the wealthiest towns, the jobless rate is even lower than 3%. The richest town in America is Scarsdale, N.Y., with a median annual household income of $241,453. The state of Virginia has seven of the 25 richest towns in America, in the outlying areas of Washington, D.C.
Michigan was at least lucky in one sense when it comes to impoverished towns and cities — it did not actually house America’s poorest town. Macon, Miss., was the nation’s poorest town, in which the typical household earns $18,232 annually. And back in 2014, the struggling city of Detroit did still have three suburbs that actually ranked among the 50 best places to live in America.
The wealthiest places in America have their residents employed in highly skilled positions in high-paying industries. They have high levels of education. Their students generally have access to a better-funded education, and high school graduation rates are far higher than in the poorest areas.
While 86% of adults nationwide have at least a high school diploma, at least 97% of adults in nearly all the wealthiest towns do. An overwhelming majority of the richest towns in America have at least 75% of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree. Meanwhile, fewer than 20% of adults in all the 25 poorest towns have at least a college education.
It should be noted that income is only part of a person’s wealth. The value of a person’s assets, like property and investments, has to be considered too. The estimated value of a typical home nationwide is $175,700. Now consider that the median home value in all the 25 richest towns is greater than $500,000, and 10 of the top 25 communities have a typical home value that exceeds $1 million. Things couldn’t be more different for America’s 25 poorest towns, where very few have a median home value greater than $100,000.
There may be at least some balance here. Michigan is a state with extremes. Not every city and town in Michigan is poor, and some townships and cities are quite well off. Grosse Pointe Farms is considered to be the wealthiest town in Michigan. This is an affluent suburb of Detroit, and the more well-known Grosse Pointe is on the west. Its median household income is $113,969, well over the state median household income of $49,847 (which is the 20th lowest in the United States). Grosse Pointe Farms’ poverty rate is in the middle ranking (25 of 50) at 3.2%. Its population of 9,371 is tiny compared to Detroit’s formal population of roughly 688,000.
24/7 Wall St. has featured the seven poorest towns in Michigan. We included how each ranked among the 25 poorest towns and cities in America. On top of a brief description and location of each town or city, data such as household income, home values, the percentage of people with a bachelor’s degree and the poverty rate have been included. Some unemployment data has been counted as well, taken directly from the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) tables and grouped data (generally March/April 2016).
25. Detroit
> Median household income: $26,095
> Median home value: $45,100
> Adults with at least a bachelor’s degree: 13.1%
> Poverty rate: 39.8%
Detroit is very well known as the “Motor City” in America and internationally. Unfortunately, the City of Detroit is also known for the biggest municipal bankruptcy to date. The formal population of the city is far lower than the 4.3 million in the greater Detroit metropolitan area. Most wealthy residents of Detroit live in suburbs, and most of those suburbs have their own townships and school districts.
Again, there is a wide discrepancy of data on the city of Detroit versus the broader Detroit area. As of April 2016, the BLS showed the actual city of Detroit as being ranked 50th of the 50 largest cities in America with a whopping 24.8% unemployment rate based on the 2010 census population. A BLS aggregate report dated May 2, 2016 showed the larger Detroit area unemployment rate at 5.6% from March 2016.
As of April 2016, the Detroit Land Authority was auctioning off houses starting at $1,000. The city has an estimated 40,000 houses that need to be torn down. Still, in March of 2016, Detroit did at least have the most affordable homes in the nation. The flip-side is that 24/7 Wall St. pointed out last year that Detroit was the most dangerous city in America for crime.
24. Muskegon
> Median household income: $25,989
> Median home value: $63,300
> Adults with at least a bachelor’s degree: 11.4%
> Poverty rate: 35.8%
Muskegon’s population in the 2010 census was 38,401 and the Muskegon Metro area had a population of 172,188 in 2010. This is the largest populated city on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, and is located to the northwest of Grand Rapids. As you will see below, its Muskegon Heights neighbor is not very well off either. The BLS tables showed the April 2016 official unemployment rate of the larger Muskegon-Norton Shores metro area as being only 4.6%.
16. Albion
> Median household income: $25,197
> Median home value: $60,100
> Adults with at least a bachelor’s degree: 18.4%
> Poverty rate: 37.4%
Albion’s population was 8,616 in the 2010 census. It is located in Calhoun County, in the south central region of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, and is part of the much larger Battle Creek metropolitan statistical area (MSA).
15. Hamtramck
> Median household income: $25,183
> Median home value: $39,800
> Adults with at least a bachelor’s degree: 13.2%
> Poverty rate: 48.5%
Hamtramck’s city population was city population was 22,423 in the 2010 census. It is located in Wayne County located just a few miles due north of Detroit. Most of the economic data on Hamtramck’s population overlaps with the Detroit metro area.
13. Flint
> Median household income: $24,679
> Median home value: $36,700
> Adults with at least a bachelor’s degree: 11.3%
> Poverty rate: 41.6%
Flint may now be best known for its water crisis. Flint is located along the Flint River in what is considered “Mid Michigan” and is over 60 miles to the northwest of Detroit. Its population in 2013 was 99,763 – versus over 102,000 in 2010. The Flint MSA is in Genesee County and is the fourth largest MSA in Michigan with a population of 425,790 (2010). The BLS tables showed Flint’s official unemployment rate being only 4.9% for April 2016.
4. Muskegon Heights
> Median household income: $20,474
> Median home value: $45,600
> Adults with at least a bachelor’s degree: 5. %
> Poverty rate: 44.5%
Muskegon Heights is on the south side of Muskegon (see above), north of the metro airport, and its population in 2010 was 10,856. It is located to the northwest of Grand Rapids. The BLS tables showed the April 2016 official unemployment rate of the Muskegon-Norton Shores metro area as being only 4.6%.
2. Benton Harbor
> Median household income: $19,359
> Median home value: $47,400
> Adults with at least a bachelor’s degree: 4.5%
> Poverty rate: 47.4%
Benton Harbor had a population of 10,038 in 2010, and is located in Berrien County. This is to the west of Kalamazoo, and to the northwest of South Bend, Indiana. Benton Harbor is the smaller of the two main cities in the Niles-Benton Harbor MSA (with a total population of more than 156,000). The BLS data shows the Niles-Benton Harbor MSA being only 4.1% (April 2016).
Methodology for 25 Poorest Towns in America
To determine the richest and poorest U.S. towns, 24/7 Wall St. considered 2010-2014 five-year average median household incomes from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). We excluded towns for which the margin of error at 90% confidence was greater than 10% for both median household income and population. Some towns are not part of a metropolitan statistical area. Unincorporated regions, called Census Designated Areas, were also considered. Poverty rates for all people, median home values, as well as the percentage of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree also came from the ACS and are also five-year estimates through 2014. Since unemployment rates in most towns with less than 25,000 people are not available from the BLS, unemployment rates came from the U.S. Census Bureau and are also average for the five-year period 2010 through 2014.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
