Top 10 Poorest Cities In The USA (Is Your City On The List?)

» by October 5, 2010, 12:01pm

10. Newark , NJ

With the poverty rate of 24.2%, Newark, New Jersey ranks the poorest of many different Jersey cities. Although, many are familiar of the fun loving Atlantic City and Jersey Shore, many are not familiar that Jersey has three cities that rank poorest in the top 50 cities.

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  • Marquita

    Why are these celebrities helping out these other countries they need to be doing something here. They stay in the states but everytime you look up they helping mfs in another country as though the states don't need any help. There should not be a problem like this existing at all. There are to many people making to much mf money and wasting it.

    • MoCincy

      All of the top 10 are & have been run by democrats for at least 20 years.....some 50 years. What does that tell you??? VOTE them OUT !!!

      • Rachel

        I was born in Newark...and it's been a dangerous pit for 50+ years. This isn't new.

        But oh gee...and what do they ALL have in common? 3 guesses. These once-thriving cities have been poverty stricken, crime riddled cra pholes for generations. And oh what a shock....they have been run by Democrats all that time. The Democrats really ARE for the poor...they are for keeping them poor and dependent, uneducated and easily manipulated for votes. And what a success that's been...not for the poor but for the Democrat politicians.!!

      • Amanda Rose

        run by democrats? when was the last time any of those cities elected a democrat mayor? 10, 20 50 years or never?

  • Jess

    Hey!!..not all of Milwaukee is poor...i live there..:(

  • levyp

    Crazy I always wanted to go to mia....but its sad .... I need a lucy

  • alicia a

    stop bragging about your city and help these poor cities... thats what you can do!!

  • missvalz

    Thats how they feel? DETROIT is the poorest city WOW. Well i guess that is paying taxes poor. Because i know for a fact the "D" got some paid black brothers and sisters. They are showing the worst part of these cities. If we let the press inform us black communities would get no love. So if you black and always wanted to go to one of these cities go to it. The"D' has plenty of good safe places to hang , eat , party , casino's , belle Isle (island) in Detroit they did not put that on there. azzzz holes

    • Lamothe

      Detroit is THE place for losers. It is a magnet for criminals and people who want to live on other peoples' money. Detroit is the worst of the worst for having nothing good to offer. The schools are the worst because the people who live there have no desire to work for anything. It's a handout mentality and crime and illiteracy are encouraged. When Detroit's failure is do*****ented, fools in Detroit, instead of getting and education, a good job and contributing anything that matters, simply call people names or pull out a gun and kill the critics. How's all that crime working or you. Happy now?

  • PraDaMaMa

    Wow...didn't no Maimi was in property I didn't see N E of it during my visit... u'll think with the NBA & NFL revenue they'll clean or help out a little bit...I swear da rich stay rich and the poor stay poor...SMH!!

  • Ms313

    Poor Detroit.. Still love it though..

  • Cl*****ikkStarr

    I'm not surprised about Milwaukee at all...I was born and raised there..and moved to a place that should have made the list Buffalo,NY...and I'm also not surprised by miami...I've never seen that many homeless people ever...

  • CanI

    im from cincinnati and ill admit that the job scene here is a little lacklustre but alot of has to do with the job opportunities here, the exclusion of the black youth and the fact that this city only focuses on cattering to one group of ppl...

  • young black and doing good in detroit

    I live in detroit and I aint doing bad @ all, I am 26, self employed (legally) and I own my home. 5 bedroom, 3 bath rooms, 2 kitchens, and my utilities are on. I mean it's hard ... But it's hard everywhere. Cost of living is low low low, and if you getting money it goes a long way, the thing is you can't sit on your as and wait on it, you got to be @ the dollar. I make money and my peoples do too, we just get money where taxes is an option cause it's cash and carry. Detroit don't have money issues, we have an economy switch, where our city's products has change. We BLOWN MONEY FAST STILL!

  • young black and doing good in detroit

    our city is shrinking like every other city, *****ody procreating like they use to...its jus me my girl in all this house, and we aint pressed on rug rats, Vacant houses don't mean poor, and jus cause a N***a aint collecting a check don't mean he not employed you dig.

  • LUVLY

    Along with it's 26.4% poverty rating, El Paso also made our list of top 10 most obese cities.

    How do you have a city that is 75% obese and 25% not being fed at all?!ob

    obesity and poverty go hand and hand.....they cant afford to eat healthy....smh

  • Buffalo native

    I've lived in buffalo all me life and the only thing I'm guarenteed is having a black cloud over my head.

  • LISTENUP

    OBAMA GOT TO GET OUT. WE HAVE NO CHOICE. THESE ARE LARGELY AFRICAN AMERICAN CITIES THAT VOTED FOR HIM. IF HIS HANDS ARE TIED, THEN HE CERTAINLY CANNOT HELP ANYONE AND WE NEED SOMEONE THAT CAN DO THE JOB. NOW SINCE I'VE READ THIS, I HAVE TO THINK ABOUT HOME HERE IN AMERICA AND MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS HERE THAT ARE SUFFERING INSTEAD OF THESE PEOPLE COLLECTING FOR AFRICA. SORRY, MY FIRST PRIORITY HAS TO BE THE U.S. BRING THE JOBS BACK TO THE U.S. AND THERE WON'T BE ANY GHETTOS. PEOPLE JUST WANT TO WORK AND TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES. ARE YOU LISTENING OBAMA? WE KNOW YOUR FAMILY IS TAKEN CARE OF FOR LIFE, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF US THAT VOTED FOR YOU? JUST HEARTBREAKING. HANG IN THERE PEOPLE.

    • Freebird

      There will always be ghettos, even with 100% employment. Think about who was President when things went south. Deregulation of the banking industry caused the recession. Deregulation is just less laws for banks. You want banks to be able to do anything with your money that they want to do? You are an example of a underfunded school system.

    • Freebird

      There will always be ghettos, even with 100% employment. Think about who was President when things went south. Deregulation of the banking industry caused the recession. Deregulation is just less laws for banks. You want banks to be able to do anything with your money that they want to do? You are an example of a underfunded school system.

  • Big Ryde

    I belive Black people should get out of the inner cities and explore the nation and live in places that black people traditionally don't live. Cities/town like Omaha Ne., Wichita Ks. OKC.. Salt Lake City has employment that they can't even fill so if I lived in anyone of those cities I'll be up. BTW I guess the Great Lakes aint so great for the cities that rest on them!

    • Chrome Dome

      Yeah, blacks are programmed to live in inner cities. We think living on top of each other in row homes and neighborhoods with houses only feet away will shield us from racism. This is a huge country with plenty of real estate in the midwest. We're so afraid to live away from close contact. I live in a semi-rural, semi-suburban area and have a four bedroom house on almost two acres in the woods. My nearest neighbor is about 800 ft away from me and she and her family are also black. There's lots of diversity out here too. Black, latino, indian, asian. And I can play my music loud as I want and have cookouts any time of year. My home cost me $90k when I bought it in '99 and was worth almost four times that before the recession. Im about a seven minute ride to the nearest shopping plaza and 45 minutes outside the business/downtown section of my city. I've never had any problems with neighbors on my road. I've never had a break-in or any vandalism. All the city ever had to offer me was convenience of having a store on the corner. Outside of visiting family and friends, I'd never move back to the inner city.

  • chochachopper

    @Athena: The President is working hard trying to make this a better country and world. He told you change wont come over night but read the news -the future is looking better. He has been in office for 1 1/2 years and it's quite tough to clean up the ish Bush left. Bush spent 1,020 days of his presidency on vacation. Obama spent all, or part of, 26 days of his first year in office on vacation. That's a fact. Google it.
    Obama tried to help the poor with reforming health-care. Something the Reps never wanted to do. But go ahead and vote for them if you feel they do a better job. Just don't complain that they will do less for the poor.
    Do you even remember how Republicans were only interested in big businesses doing well? Do you remember Halliburton? Do you remember how important oil was to them. They started a war because of it. Do you remember that the Bushes own oil-companies?
    People like you who want the change over night worry me the most when the elections are coming up. Instead of acknowledging that the current government is on the right track you want to put the reps in charge again that brought us the recession, the poverty increase and this ridiculous deficit. But go ahead put them back in charge!

  • BBBEE25

    I've heard that Detroit has one of the worst unemployment rate in America. Honestly I thought the poverty rate was higher.

  • tayy

    ummmmm idk bout this top 10 someone needs to revise this

  • detroitbornnbred

    detroit will come up once again, we just need to get our city together, and fix our political office....hey we already got our Pistons back in the city, so the city is definelty gonna come up and i LOVE MY PRESIDENT its gonna take more than 2 yrs to fix all the ***** G. Bush messed up so miss me with all that Obama fault talk!!!!!!

  • chaka1

    I agree with the previous comment that blacks in the poor cities need to get out and explore their opportunities in cities that are prospering. If you follow history, that's how blacks ended up in the north and out west in the first place. They were escaping poverty and prejudice in the South and found opportunities for growth in factories and farming. I live in Miami and the city is not as glamorous as portrayed on TV and in the magazines. There is NO middle cl***** (they all live in Broward and Palm Beach counties). People are either upper middle cl***** or rich, or extremely poor.

    This has nothing to do with Obama.

  • Mabel

    There is no need for ppl to comment that they live in a city on the list and they are not poor. Most intelligent ppl know that not everybody who lives in a city on the list is living in poverty.

    I also agree with the need to pick up and move to areas that are prospering. Some may also need to explore rural vs urban living. Families may have to pool together and find ways to survive as a unit rather than individually. I see most Asian and East Asian immigrants survive better because they pool their resources and live together longer ensuring everyone is on a strong footing before moving out on their own. This used to be the way with African descent ppl, but we did away with those things to our demise.

    One area that is booming is in the pest control industry. It can be a very lucrative business for the ambitious and hardworking.

  • MISSVALZ

    detroitbornnbred I totally agree, only the strong survive.

  • CaramelKisses4U

    I'm surprised Philly made the list. Philly is a somewhat clean, just some areas are filthy.

  • Jada

    oh wow...I'm from El Paso there are some bad areas but idk...nothing I ever experienced first hand

  • realdwn2erth

    Aww! My brothers, live in Detroit; alongside of all my nephews and nieces. I used to go visit there every summer, when I was younger, and I used to love going to Belle Isle (Island) with my big brothers and dad; who's now deceased. But, anyways; the point I'm trying to make here is: I recently, spoke with my sister n law, on the telephone the other day, and she too; resides in Detroit. However, she told me that, there's nothing, but, abandoned homes, and home for sale, there now; on almost every block. She said: They're either, up for sale, abandoned, or just raggedy; to the point of no repair!! And, not to mention the crime rate, or unemployment ratio? It's through the roof! SMH!

  • tppp

    And what is the purpose of this REPORT?? Does the author feel good that he doesnt live in these areas? Is it to shame the people that live in these cities or will this report make ANY DIFFERENCE in getting more federal dollars to these AREAS for job creation eTC??? Makes no sense to BLINDLY throw out STATS and HAVE no suggestions or solutions to the PROBLEMS. I just wasted time commenting on this...IM DONE

  • wat

    NAFTA was the downfall to this economy and needs to be restructured asap.

  • wat

    I find it really weird how sites that target minorities have the same derogatory stories over and over again, pointing out how bad it is here and there and everywhere but yet no positive stories about how people survive and even thrive in areas such as these. The success stories that come from these area deserve just as much coverage. Ignoring a problem never helps however having a balance is important for the youth in these communities who read this Trash on a daily basis

  • Gapeach

    We as a family need to work as a unit, other nationalities do this.. Why is this so hard for the African American community? This down trotting has cause a lot of our people to dwindle.. We need to wake up... Pooling your resources will prevent a lot of these problems.

  • Shay

    I'm surprised Gary, Indiana didn't make this list-it's like ghost town there, boarded up buildings, tons of abandoned houses-had to get out of there quick!

  • koolatta

    Poor Detroit still # 1. Its so sad you can go their during rush hour and there is no traffic because no one has a job :0( the casinos are even worse, they are gambling for rent! Oh the sad faces.

  • queen

    it all makes me feel so sad. i have a lot of family in detroit and my grandmother lived in philly after leaving s.c . too bad most wealthy blacks do not give back. we need to go back to opening businesses like carribean and africans do. intergration took away our need for each other .we go to others for funerals, insurance etc. when before we only went to each other.our churches should also invest in our communities. i am praying that this country turns to God,especially black people. God says he will heal the land if we pray.

  • MOBOUNCERYDER

    some are poor...but they wear the best clothes around even if the clothes are a knock off...tuh

  • Ican Breakthesecuffs

    All i gotta say is Milwaukee Waste Treatment Facilities.

  • qsqs1452

    Wonderful.

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  • deville

    Move to North America's secret for black success..... Toronto, Canada. We're , making money, buying property, investing and achieving academic and economic success. Make all the jokes you want however that is real talk. And yes there is a very large black community in Toronto. We are here!!! One Love!

  • http://twonbereal@yahoo.com Twon

    I'm frm Buffalo and I think we should be #1!! ppl here never get jobs! I got like 10 good friends and 3 of us have jobs (all of as r n r 20's) smh. I'm jus happy I have one!

  • http://mn1000@yahoo.com moe

    @cochachopper. Bush spend almost three years on vacation? No wonder the inner cities are in problems. Not sure where you get your facts but your comment just made my day. Hilarious... thank you.

  • thinker

    How many of these cities elected democrats to govern them?

  • DetroitTeen

    Well for all of the Detroit,HATERS.My city my be poor,but guess what that is not how all of Detroit looks.I was born and raised in Detroit,MI.I graduated from a Frank Cody,a Detroit Public High School.I'm currently attending Grambling State University,on a FULL scholarship.So to those speaking on the horrible dropout rate,I bet the odds.My family is still WELL off,and we don't live in a run down neighborhood.The biggest issue that Detroit has,is the citizens,& the corrupt City government.So until you LIVE here,until you are EDUCATED here,& and until you have LEARNED why so many kids drop out of school here.Do not speak on my city,you do not have the right.
    P.S. A lot of your ignorant comments make you sound really pathetic.

    • DetroitTeen

      & please excuse my typo's.I was upset when I wrote this.

  • Bobby Gentry

    I only have one word for this problem. NEGRO.

    Stop giving them everything and maybe they'll pull themselves out of this mess that the democrat party has created for them and us. How do you expect people to act when they've been given everything they have since they were BORN?

  • Bobby Gentry

    The reason Democrats run these cities is because blacks vote dem. Dems give blacks and poor people whatever they want, including cell phones (TRUE!). So, they vote Dem. Why would they vote Republican when the Republicans would not give them as much? I love it when the Reps come out at election time pretending to be empathetic to Blacks. LOL.

  • http://DidyoueverlookatManchester,KY david

    Did you ever look at Manchester, KY Where 95% of all people who lives there are poor and very low educated its been like this for 100's of years....

  • wwhhaa

    I thought Buffalo was number 1 in the list, But crime rate is not as said. Blacks and other minorities are the affected people. It is unfair to spend a lot of money on military while people in these cities suffer and sleep in streets. Wake up obama! do some thing

  • Riley

    god i thought miami was an awesome city but i guess not! :(

  • jj

    your a black city its all down hill from here. Dont play stupid take a look at your people, from selfish attitude, hip_hop mentality, the way you treat women, somebody owes me something, complete lack of parenting_so u let the streets raise u, you'll live n a section 8 appartment but got to have a wip with rims_got to keep your image, and just a complete lack of Brain activity.......the list goes on but I dont have that kind of time. Holla! Ha ha ha

  • pg

    detroit is where most rappers come from, its not that bad they are just showing the worst parts of it on linwood. it may be alot of crimes there but arent they every where. its not the kids fault that they do crimes its the community if they cleaned up and put them in programs "motor city" will be BACK on track, then everybody going to jump on their bandwagaon .. but all i know is that i will never forget where im from (Detroit, Mi)

  • Asdfghqwerty

    @PG "detroit is where most rappers come from" LOL ARE YOU KIDDING RIGHT NOW??

  • Mark

    This might be too funny, but the car at the house from El Paso, Texas has "NEW MEXICO PLATES" how true are these picture of these poor cities.....how do we know all these pictures are really taken there..just saying....Mark

  • Caroline

    MIAMI IS NOT POOR!!!! Its actually really beautiful and i know that because i live there and im not poor!

  • BuffaloBeauty

    Born && raised in Buffalo, NY. This city is on one of the Great Lakes and has one of the 8 wonders of the world right next door and yet we see no new businesses and don't benefit off the money that should come to our region. These cities wouldn't have these problems if the government didn't line their pockets with soo much money && that they didn't pay entertainers as much as they pay them. I mean America as a whole is in debt but yet we have money to make sure entertainers get paid however millions of dollars and they use these millions of dollars to go to other countries and adopt children or start homeless shelters, when its going on in their own backyards and over look it. I mean don't get me wrong you have a SELECT FEW that donate to their cities but the majority go else where. Poor America needs to stand up for ourselves because clearly no one else will.

  • lemonnnnnn

    Cleveland ohio isnt THAT bad -__- some places are ghetto& some aren't. I love cleveland ; ) & we're not really poor... ( :

  • JT

    Some of these are deceptive though. For instance, Miami and especially El Paso are so poor because the are first stops for immigrants for Latin America. There will always be high poverty rates in these cities, but it won't always be the same people, as immigrants start making money, and then a new group of poor immigrants arrives, and the cycle repeats.