Economy

This Is the American City With the Fewest Poor People

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: August 18, 2021 8:30 am

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released the population of America’s 385 metro areas. As part of the data, it compared the population of these cities in 2020 with 2010. Among the data the bureau supplied for 2019 is the poverty rate of each one. This ranged from 24.3% to 5.2%.

The city with the lowest poverty level is also among the smallest on the list, and one of the few where the population dropped from 2010. Barnstable Town, Massachusetts, had a population of 213,164, which was down 1% in a decade from 215,888.

Barnstable Town covers Cape Code, just north of Martha’s Vineyard. It is probably best known as the location of Hyannis Port, the residential compound of the Kennedy family, and a place where President John F. Kennedy spent many holidays and parts of summer. It is also known for its beaches along the Atlantic Ocean.

Almost 90% of Barnstable Town residents are white. It is among the richest metros in America. At $85,042, median household income is more than 25% of the national average. At just over $410,000, the value of owner-occupied homes is 50% above the national figure.

Among the population of people 25 years old or older, 47% have an education of bachelor’s degree or higher, about 1.4 times the U.S. figure.

Click here to see which are America’s richest cities.