Crafting a thriving city isn't easy, especially when you have natural disasters working against you. Between high poverty and crime rates to unending natural disasters, these are the roughest cities to make a living. Some have been able to turn things around for the better, but many suffer from civilian and economic blight.
Reading, Pennsylvania
In 2011, the New York Times listed Reading as the poorest city in the United States. The city struggled after factories closed down and laid people off. Today, an estimated 44% of households are on food stamps.
Reading has a high crime rate but is moderately average in relation to other cities its size. The large Pagoda that overlooks the city looks unassuming, but any local would tell you to avoid it like the plague. A lot of crime goes down up there since it's largely unpatrolled due to how far away it is from the city itself.
El Monte, California
El Monte is a city that is close to Los Angeles but far away enough to have once prospered under its shadow. The city used to have multiple car dealerships which helped with jobs and city taxes, but the recessions shut those down and the city has since struggled.
They are now focusing on a marijuana facility to help bring revenue back to the city which will aid in other prospects for the residents. As long as it continues to be legal in the state of California, El Monte might have a chance at a comeback.
Cicero, Illinois
Cicero was once called Al Capone's "private playground." Naturally, that type of criminal activity did not breed very successful growth in the area. After the crime boom of the 1920s, the city has endlessly tried to retake its name.
Officials desparately wanted the city to lose it's notoriety. In 1999, they even voted to force known gang members to leave the city or face a daily $500 fine. Nothing much has changed since then.
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is notoriously known as the most dangerous city in New Jersey. Out of 282k residents, 28% are living under the poverty line and 32% are unemployed. The city always struggled with violent crime and poverty.
It has also had problems with lead poisoning in its water supply, which left residents without access to clean, safe water. Despite all of these hardships, Newark is the most populous city in all of New Jersey. Newark has a crime rate that is higher than 87% of the state's cities and towns of all sizes.
Flint, Michigan
Flint has been front-page news due to its lack of access to clean water. The residents have been poisoned with lead for an unknown amount of time. The poisoning was revealed in 2014.
Along with the lack of clean water, there is a high murder rate and severe opioid problem. Blight has also been an issue as people have been leaving the city in record time since there is no clean water access, even today.
Lynwood, California
Lynwood used to be a thriving and prosperous city but began to fail due to poor city planning. Interstate 105 cut directly through the city which resulted in the evictions of 1,000 homes and businesses. After the evictions, the homes and businesses were knocked down to make way for the interstate.
The city then began to struggle with finances. Locals believe that officials did not put the tax money where it needed to go and that left everyone struggling. Unfortunately, the future looks bleak.
Camden, New Jersey
Camden, New Jersey shares the Delaware River with Philadelphia. The city never prospered like its neighbor, and even lost 4% of its population from 2010 and 2018. The average household income for Camden is $26,105 a year.
Camden also suffered from a horrific crime rate, but that has since been improving due to new policing policies that aid in community growth. Violent and non-violent crime has been down nearly 35% between 2012 and 2020.
North Miami, Florida
North Miami (different from North Miami Beach), has a population of 63k people with 23% living below the poverty line. Naturally, this city faces issues with flooding and infrastructure failures. Infrastructure issues do nothing but aid in the failure of a city, and North Miami struggles heavily with that fact.
The city also sits on top of a huge human biowaste disaster. There are 2,780 septic tanks in the city that will fail and spill wastewater in yards if it's not fixed. So far, nothing has improved in terms of septic tank infrastructure.
Port Arthur, Texas
Port Arthur is a city surrounded by oil refineries, which is where it makes most of its tax revenue. It is also a city that gets completely wrecked during every single major hurricane. Hurricane Harvey totaled a whopping $1.3 billion in damage.
People have been leaving the city quickly, and if the population falls below 50k, they will no longer be eligible for federal grants. The population is just over 54k.
Gary, Indiana
Gary, Indiana has suffered greatly. The Guardian interviewed a man who grew up in the area in 2017 who said, "We used to be the murder capital of the US, but there is hardly anybody left to kill. We used to be the drug capital of the US, but for that you need money, and there aren't any jobs or things to steal here."
A majority of major manufacturing plants were stationed near Gary, but they went overseas and left the city to struggle without money. The city is struggling so much that they even may try to sell abandoned homes for $1.
Lancaster, California
Lancaster is the fifth largest city in Los Angeles County. The population of Lancaster is around 160k people with 23% of citizens living below the poverty line. The city has a considerably high crime rate. According to NeighborhoodScout, Lancaster is among the top 100 most dangerous cities to live in the U.S.
St. Louis, Missouri
With a population of just over 300k citizens, St. Louis has an extremely high crime rate. One-quarter of the population is living under the poverty line. They struggle with crime and gun violence. Compared to other cities of a similar size, St. Louis fares the worst under crime statistics. 99% of Missouri communities have a lower crime rate.
Macon-Bibb County, Georgia
The main issue that Macon-Bibb County has is blight. There are approximately 3,700 unoccupied buildings across the cities, not to mention other homes and buildings that are slowly decaying without city help. The city only has a population of 153k people, but that is quickly declining.
Danville, Virgina
Danville, Virginia has a population of 40,000. The population fell drastically by 5.5% between 2010 and 2018. 21% of the population lives under the poverty line. This is mainly due to the tobacco and textile mills that shut down and moved out of the city.
Shreveport, Louisiana
This is a totally different Shreveport than what we may know of it in True Blood. The city has a population of 189k but lost a whopping 6% of it between 2010 and 2018. It is ranked as safer than 3% of U.S. cities and has a high crime rate.
Hemet, California
The 2008 recession proved to be a difficult time for the city of Hemet. 23% of the population lives in poverty. Just in the year 2016, the city reported 170 robberies, 623 stolen cars, and 398 aggravated assaults. From a city of only 85k people, that's quite a lot.
Mansfield, Ohio
Mansfield used to be a bustling city but died down after the steel, machinery, and stove factories shut down and moved out. In 2010, GM closed the doors of its factory which resulted in the loss of jobs. The loss of jobs surged the crime rates between 2012 and 2017.
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino is a city 60 miles east of Los Angeles. This is indeed the birthplace of McDonald's and the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, but the area suffers despite its history. After a steel plant and Air Force base moved out of the city, the citizens suffered from fewer jobs.
Compton, California
Compton is a city in California with a 40% unemployment rate and a 23% poverty rate. The murder rate has gone down significantly and the quality of life has improved, but it's nowhere where it should be.
Montebello, California
Montebello's biggest problem is the lack of affordable housing. Montebello's real estate costs are among the highest in the nations. Most of the housing (single-family detached homes) was built after World War II with the help of the GI bill. Only 60% of the population is working and 14% live in poverty.
Harlingen, Texas
Like many Texas cities, Harlingen really struggles with flooding. It's hard to bounce back when your quality of life is affected by flooding. In addition to that, the city was out of three chosen in Texas as a safe harbor for immigrants which put pressure on the already failing city aid.
Hallandale Beach, Florida
Hallandale Beach is about halfway between Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale. It's been called a "once scruffy beach town" but is attempting to thrive once again. With a population of 40,000 people, 20% live in poverty and 29% are without health insurance.
Palmdale, California
Palmdale was once called the "foreclosure capital of California" 19% of the population lives in poverty. Palmdale has a huge wealth disparity with very poor people and very rich people. The per capita income in 2018 was $22,687. It's a moderately safe city and on par with the California average of crimes.
Anderson, Indiana
Anderson is another city that struggles with blight. GM closed down 24 factories in the area which resulted in 23,000 people losing their jobs. In 2015, the city had o tear down 100 abandoned homes that were deemed unsafe. There are around 55,000 residents.
Fort Pierce, Florida
Fort Pierce is a city that is starting to thrive again, but it has a long way to grow. The population grew by nearly 10% between 2010 and 2018. Unfortunately, 36% of residents are still in poverty. Ocean erosion causes damage to their beaches and diseases to citrus farm has hurt the supply.
North Miami Beach, Florida
It's never been a secret that North Miami Beach has struggled with its political leaders. The last two mayors have faced criminal charges for the way that they spent tax money. 20% of residents are living under the poverty line and a whopping 32% of residents do not have healthcare. There's still a lot to go with this beach town.
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson lost 5% of its population between 2010 and 2018. 29% of the population lives in poverty. The poverty in this city is so bad that the city itself threatened to simply turn off the water for everyone because of $45 million worth of unpaid water bills. Nothing came of the threat, thankfully.
Saginaw, Michigan
GM used to employ about 25,000 Saginaw citizens... more than 50% of the population. Like every other city that worked with GM, they lost their jobs when the company moved their factories. 34% of the population lives in poverty.
Plainfield, New Jersey
Plainfield used to be quite a violent city. There were 719 reported violent crimes in the city. It has improved, but not by much. Out of the 50,693 population, one-fifth of that lives in poverty, and one-third are without health insurance. Traffic is also bad, with a 31 minute commute time within the city.
West New York, New Jersey
West New York is literally right across the Hudson River in New Jersey. The population of West New York is nearing 53k people with 22% living under the poverty line. It's a relatively safe and affordable city, but residents complain of difficult traffic and too much trash.
Miami Gardens, Florida
Miami Gardens has a population of 113k people. This small part of Miami struggled with a controversial police force which only created a divisive community. The cost of living is high in comparison to other areas despite the lack of resources provided by the city.
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is known to be a major U.S. city, but it has its problems. A whopping 35% of its 385k residents live below the poverty line. The city used to thrive in the manufacturing industry but, like many others, suffered when those factories moved overseas. Forbes said that it was the most miserable city in the U.S. in 2010.
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown was formerly known as the third-biggest steel producer in the U.S. The factory downsizing process, starting in 1977, caused the population of Youngstown to go from 170k to just under 65k residents. This city also struggles with air pollution.
Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington used to be a thriving coal town until 1950. In 2008, it was named the unhealthiest city in America. At one point, it was also named the overdose capital of America. That rate has fallen drastically since 2017.
Hammond, Indiana
Hammond has a population of around 76k people. This city was listed as one of the most industrial-focused cities in Indiana back in 2014. This has resulted in the air of extreme air and water pollution along with lead contamination.
Huntsville, Texas
Out of the 41.5k residents in Huntsville, 35% live in poverty. The weird part about this town is that the people living in prisons are being counted as part of the population, which then affects the numbers since those in prison do not make money nor do they have an opportunity to be employed. Most executions in Texas are done in Huntsville.
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson was once a great city for silk production. Tragically, in 2011, Hurricane Irene ended up flooding the city and ruining the Great Falls. The Great Falls is what powered the factories to produce silk. The tax revenue fell by 38% between 2009 and 2016. The city began struggling with blight.
Albany, Georgia
Albany struggles with poverty, crime, and severe damage to farms. They heavily relied on farming and crop harvesting, but Hurricane Irma (and a severe tornado) destroyed a lot of that land. The population dropped 3% between 2010 and 2018.
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton's catchphrase is "Trenton makes, the world takes." Sadly, this is totally out of date as it is no longer the manufacturing capital that it used to be. With 27% of its 84k residents living under the poverty line, violent crime has been up and so has gun violence. New jobs do not come in at the rate as most cities.
Union City, New Jersey
New Jersey is known for being the most densely populated state in the country, but Union City is its most densely populated area. Union City only covers 1.28 square miles. Add 68.5k residents to the mix, and you've got a recipe for disaster. Jobs are competitive, tensions are high, and the average commute time is 33 minutes.
Bell Gardens, California
Bell Gardens has 42.3k residents with 30% living under the poverty line. In 1991, a city official claimed that all of the crime, poverty, and illness were due to the fact that they had too many people. The city has always depended on one casino for much of its tax revenue. In 2002, the casino provided Bell Gardens more than half.
Hialeah, Florida
Hialeah has 239k residents. 44% are unemployed, 26% live under the poverty line, and 31% don't have healthcare. It was once rated as the worst city in the US for having an active lifestyle.
Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville borders Mexico, which means that this town is heavily patrolled and surveilled. Residents are always subjected to helicopter sounds as three different helicopters patrol the skies. The property value is low due to the patrolling of immigration officers.
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a small city in Northern New Jersey that has always had to compete with nearby New York City. Out of the 56k residents, 35% are living in poverty. In 2017, the city's assaults with guns rose 64% from the previous year.
Huntington Park, California
The LA Times described Huntington Park as a "working-class haven" due to the fact that there is affordable housing. Unfortunately, the high poverty rates in the city mean that there is a struggle to purchase these homes. The city continues to struggle with high poverty rates.
Warren, Ohio
Warren, Ohio lost 7.7% of its residents between 2010 and 2018. Things got worse for the city when General Motors announced that it would stop work in a major plant nearby in 2018. This decision left thousands of people unemployed. Warren has the second-highest rate of people struggling to find enough food in the country.
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Between 2010 and 2018, Pine Bluff lost a whopping 14% of its population. That is the biggest dive on record. People left the city after manufacturing jobs moved overseas. Those who needed jobs took their families and moved elsewhere. The city also suffered from a huge flood which halted any progress on city improvements.
Passaic, New Jersey
Passaic struggled to keep drug pushing and violence rates down. With a city of only 70k, they find it difficult to create opportunities for their residents by creating new jobs and new opportunities.
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is known as one of the most dangerous city's in the U.S. Between 1950 and 1980, the city lost around 600k residents due to manufacturing plants moving away. The city struggles with 43,000 abandoned homes as blight continues to be a problem. It currently has a population of 672k people.
Pasadena, Texas
Pasadena is a segregated city by 2021 standards. It used to be the headquarters for the KKK. Pasadena has a population of 153,000 with one-fifth of that living under the poverty line. 29% of citizens do not have health insurance. The city is based near many petrochemical plants.