To determine the 50 worst U.S. cities to live in, 24/7 Wall St. looked at data on the 551 cities with a population of 65,000 or more. Here are the 10 worst, determined with a range of variables, including crime rates, employment growth, amenities, educational attainment and housing affordability.9. Merced, California. Located 75 miles east of San Jose, the city has an unemployment rate of 10.7 percent, nearly the worst rate in the U.S. The poverty rate is 35.1 percent, more than double the national rate of 14.7 percent.8. Hartford, Connecticut. The city is one of the most expensive in the country. It's also tied with Flint, Michigan, and Compton, California, as the city with the seventh highest unemployment rate. About 10.4 percent of the labor force was unemployed in 2015.7. Albany, Georgia. About 32 percent of Albany residents are living in poverty. The unemployment rate is 7.9 percent (the national rate is 5.3 percent).6. Milwaukee. Milwaukee's poverty rate of 26.8 percent is the highest of any city in the state. The median household income is low: $37,495. It also has the sixth-highest violent crime rate of all U.S. cities.5. Memphis. It's a large, crime-ridden city. The city's annual violent crime rate of 1,740 incidents for 100,000 residents is nearly five times the national rate. The poverty rate is 26.2 percent.4. St. Louis. The city has been experiencing some of the worst urban decay of any major city today. The poverty rate is 24.9 percent. It has a high crime rate, and its population has fallen 5.4 percent.3. Flint, Michigan. Flint's decline is tied to the decline of the American manufacturing industry. In 2015, high levels of lead were found in the public water. The typical household earns $25,342 a year. The city's poverty rate is 40.8 percent.2. Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham is one of the poorest cities in the U.S. About 29.2 percent of the city's population lives in poverty. That about double the nationwide poverty rate of 14.7 percent. A typical household earns $32,378, over $23,000 below the national median household income.1. Detroit. Once the fourth largest city by population and the wealthiest by income per capita, Detroit's economic decline is perhaps the largest in the country. At its peak in 1950, the city had 1.8 million. Now, it has 677,124, along with a median home value of $42,600 and a poverty rate of 39.8 percent. Only 14.2 percent of the population have a bachelor's degree.
To determine the 50 worst U.S. cities to live in, 24/7 Wall St. looked at data on the 551 cities with a population of 65,000 or more. Here are the 10 worst, determined with a range of variables, including crime rates, employment growth, amenities, educational attainment and housing affordability.
