It’s no secret that the pandemic has wreaked economic havoc around the country, spurring widespread unemployment. In fact, the poverty rate in the U.S. showed its biggest single-year increase last year since 1960 — the year the government first started collecting poverty statistics — according to poverty estimates released in December by financial experts at the University of Notre Dame, the University of Chicago, and China’s Zhejiang University.
Between June and November alone, the overall poverty rate rose from 9.3% to 11.7%, despite the fact that the unemployment rate fell by 40% over that same period. According to the study, the rate was even higher for those without a college degree, for African-Americans, and for children under the age of 17 — about 2.3 million of whom fell into poverty during that same six-month span. You will be shocked at how many children live in poverty in your state.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services currently sets the poverty line at $12,880 per year for an individual, $26,500 per year for a family of four in the continental United States, with slightly higher numbers in Alaska and Hawaii. (These meager amounts are still substantially more than the average citizen makes in the 10 poorest countries in the world.)
Two of the ten poorest large cities in the country, measured by percentage of residents living below the poverty line, are in the Northeast — Philadelphia (23.3%) and Boston (17.1%). But the poorest places in the region are mostly small towns, like Deerfield, Mass. (pop. 621) or York Springs, Pa. (pop. 811).
Click here to see the poorest places in the Northeast.
Of the region’s 25 poorest places, eight are in Pennsylvania, while New York claims six, Maine has five, New Jersey has four, and Massachusetts and Vermont are home to one each. While there’s plenty of affluence in some parts of these states, other corners have limited economic opportunities and/or are home to historically marginalized populations — primarily African-Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans.
Federal stimulus efforts might well help such places, but they will doubtless remain among the country’s most economically vulnerable locations.
To identify the poorest places in the Northeast, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the poverty rate — the percentage of all people who live in poverty — in the approximately 20,000 places with 500 or more residents using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey.
The areas reviewed include cities, towns, as well as unincorporated areas known as Census Designated Places, or CDPs. These are the 50 places with the highest poverty rates. Each area’s median household income and population totals also came from the ACS. All data are 5-year averages through 2019, and do not reflect impacts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. We only considered places where less than 25% of the population are enrolled in college or graduate school.
25. Camden, New Jersey
> Poverty rate in 2019: 36.4% — #1,708 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $27,015 — #25,900 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 9.8% — #22,715 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 74,002
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24. Braddock, Pennsylvania
> Poverty rate in 2019: 36.7% — #1,666 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $21,972 — #26,699 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 12.9% — #19,564 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 1,869
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23. Seabrook Farms, New Jersey
> Poverty rate in 2019: 36.8% — #1,656 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: Not applicable
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 16.0% — #16,370 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 2,033
22. Atlantic City, New Jersey
> Poverty rate in 2019: 37.1% — #1,616 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $29,232 — #25,388 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 16.2% — #16,136 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 37,999
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21. Guilford, Maine
> Poverty rate in 2019: 37.2% — #1,602 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $35,278 — #23,092 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 8.2% — #24,156 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 591
20. York Springs, Pennsylvania
> Poverty rate in 2019: 37.5% — #1,559 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $55,625 — #11,468 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 10.8% — #21,703 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 811
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19. Edgewood, Pennsylvania
> Poverty rate in 2019: 38.2% — #1,469 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $27,250 — #25,831 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 10.2% — #22,310 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 2,564
18. Johnstown, Pennsylvania
> Poverty rate in 2019: 38.4% — #1,451 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $24,561 — #26,368 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 11.8% — #20,651 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 19,569
17. Oxford, Maine
> Poverty rate in 2019: 38.7% — #1,409 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: Not applicable
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 22.3% — #10,956 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 1,026
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16. Waldoboro, Maine
> Poverty rate in 2019: 38.8% — #1,397 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $16,932 — #27,023 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 19.6% — #12,958 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 1,295
15. Deerfield, Massachusetts
> Poverty rate in 2019: 38.9% — #1,388 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: Not applicable
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 74.6% — #436 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 621
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14. Duquesne, Pennsylvania
> Poverty rate in 2019: 39.2% — #1,342 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $29,844 — #25,220 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 11.0% — #21,515 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 5,543
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13. Monsey, New York
> Poverty rate in 2019: 39.7% — #1,283 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $45,399 — #17,487 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 12.0% — #20,467 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 23,055
12. South Fallsburg, New York
> Poverty rate in 2019: 40.7% — #1,189 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $26,113 — #26,115 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 16.1% — #16,253 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 2,168
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11. Anson, Maine
> Poverty rate in 2019: 41.1% — #1,163 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $32,121 — #24,380 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 9.0% — #23,495 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 1,075
10. Salem, New Jersey
> Poverty rate in 2019: 42.2% — #1,064 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $24,926 — #26,314 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 7.2% — #24,896 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 4,781
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9. North Springfield, Vermont
> Poverty rate in 2019: 42.4% — #1,051 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $32,137 — #24,371 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 10.0% — #22,506 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 644
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8. Kiryas Joel, New York
> Poverty rate in 2019: 45.1% — #847 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $31,277 — #24,725 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 5.8% — #25,864 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 24,571
7. Fairfield, Maine
> Poverty rate in 2019: 45.6% — #816 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $23,718 — #26,500 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 6.8% — #25,187 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 3,027
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6. West Milton, Pennsylvania
> Poverty rate in 2019: 45.7% — #807 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $38,519 — #21,571 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 23.2% — #10,364 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 1,588
5. Renovo, Pennsylvania
> Poverty rate in 2019: 45.9% — #797 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $23,523 — #26,520 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 6.2% — #25,604 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 1,153
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4. New Square, New York
> Poverty rate in 2019: 65.9% — #214 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $23,730 — #26,499 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 3.7% — #26,912 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 8,373
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3. Farmington, Pennsylvania
> Poverty rate in 2019: 67.5% — #193 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $66,063 — #7,403 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 21.0% — #11,868 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 964
2. Kaser, New York
> Poverty rate in 2019: 70.8% — #162 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: $21,541 — #26,743 out of 29,320 places
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 3.8% — #26,860 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 5,262
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1. Watchtower, New York
> Poverty rate in 2019: 92.0% — #66 out of 29,320 places
> Median household income in 2019: Not applicable
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree in 2019: 16.8% — #15,520 out of 29,320 places
> Total adult population in 2019: 2,117
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