Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Los Angeles rank among the top ten “neediest” cities in the country, according to an analysis by personal finance website WalletHub.
The report assessed 182 cities across 28 economic indicators, including child poverty, food insecurity and inadequate kitchens.
Detroit was ranked as the neediest metropolitan area. According to a report by the Detroit News, one in five tenants in Detroit was at risk of eviction this year.
Brownsville, Texas took second place. According to a recent report in 24/7 Wall St, a quarter of the city’s population lives in poverty, twice the national average.
Cleveland is in third place. According to a report by WEWS-TV, Cleveland’s poverty rate is 29 percent, making it the second poorest city in the country after Detroit.
Fourth through sixth were Gulfport, Miss.; Fresno, California; and Laredo, Texas.
Philadelphia placed seventh. According to WTXF-TV, the City of Brotherly Love recorded 500 murders in 2022.
New Orleans took eighth place. The city may have the highest homicide rate in the country, with more than 250 murders this year, according to a report by nola.com.
Despite its wealth, Los Angeles ended up ninth on the list of cities in need. According to a recent report in The Nation, more than 40,000 Angelenos live on the streets.
The least needy city in the country, according to WalletHub, is the DC suburb of Columbia, Maryland, a swanky bedcommunity in Howard County.
Other cities at the desirable bottom end of the list include Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota; Overland Park, the suburb of Kansas City; Pearl City, part of Greater Honolulu; South Burlington, Vt., home of Ben & Jerry’s; and Irvine, California, beyond LA’s Orange Curtain
The WalletHub analysis has singled out cities with high rates at certain levels of need. Rochester, NY had the highest child poverty rate, followed by Detroit and Cleveland. Huntington, W.Va. had the highest rate of adult poverty, again followed by Detroit and Cleveland.
Five cities share the top spot for homelessness: Fresno and San Francisco in California, New York, DC and Honolulu. During the years of the pandemic, homeless camps have sprung up around the country’s capital. San Francisco officials faced legal challenges over the eviction of their homeless.
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Gulfport, Miss., was at the top of the list for food insecurity. More than a quarter of Gulfport residents live in poverty.
San Francisco had the highest rate of homes with inadequate plumbing.
Lewiston, Maine topped the list of cities with inadequate kitchens, presumably a measure of available water and electricity rather than counter space and cabinetry.
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