Just spent way too long diving into US Census data and found something pretty eye-opening about which cities are actually struggling economically. Turns out every state has at least one big city where residents are dealing with serious poverty, and the poorest city in the US varies wildly depending on where you look.

Some of the hardest-hit places are genuinely surprising. Canton, Ohio is apparently the poorest city in the us based on median household income and poverty rates - over 30% of residents living below the poverty line. Reading, Pennsylvania is right there with it at 28.6% poverty. Then you've got Greenville, Mississippi hitting 32.2% poverty with a median household income under $36k. These numbers are wild compared to what you see in other states.

Birmingham, Alabama shows up as the poorest city in the us for that state with about 26% poverty and median income around $42k. Pine Bluff, Arkansas is similar - median household income under $40k with nearly 25% of people in poverty. When you look across the South and Midwest, you see this pattern repeat where the poorest city in the us for those regions have median incomes in the $40-50k range.

What's interesting is that even states generally considered wealthier have their own economically struggling cities. Anaheim, California has the lowest poverty rate among the poorest cities in the us per state at 12.6%, but the median household income is still under $90k. Same with Hialeah, Florida - relatively lower poverty percentage but median income around $49k.

The data comes from 2024 Census Bureau stats looking at median household income, poverty rates, and per capita income across the top 10 cities by population in each state. The poorest city in the us for each state was determined by scoring these metrics combined. Really drives home how economic inequality plays out geographically across the country.