The poorest town in every state

For every town filled with gleaming subdivisions, expertly manicured lawns and pristine schools, there are an equal number of towns at the opposite end of the spectrum.

Each of the 50 towns on this list is the poorest in its state. Stacker used the U.S. Census Bureau FactFinder tool to pull population data, the unemployment rate and the median household income for towns across the country, then ranked the poorest towns in all 50 states from lowest to highest median household income. Towns or Census Designated Places (neighborhoods created for the purpose of surveying residents) with more than 1,000 residents were eligible for this list. Click through the list to see which place in your home state has the lowest median income—and see the surprising reason that many colleges appear on the list.

Ken L.//Flickr

1 / 50

#50. Notre Dame CDP, Indiana

Median household income: $13,977
Employed population 16 years and over: 2,472
Unemployment rate: 6.2%

Jeremy Mikkola//Wikimedia

2 / 50

#49. Boone, North Carolina

Median household income: $14,725
Employed population 16 years and over: 7,162
Unemployment rate: 17.1%

Larry D. Moore//Wikipedia

3 / 50

#48. Citrus City CDP, Texas

Median household income: $14,956
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,111
Unemployment rate: 8.2%

Chris Pruitt//Wikimedia

4 / 50

#47. Livingston, Alabama

Median household income: $16,063
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,089
Unemployment rate: 19.9%

Smallbones//Wikimedia

5 / 50

#46. Centreville, Illinois

Median household income: $16,715
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,280
Unemployment rate: 22.2%

Andrew Jameson//Wikimedia

6 / 50

#45. Highland Park, Michigan

Median household income: $17,455
Employed population 16 years and over: 2,656
Unemployment rate: 28.9%

Ebyabe//Wikimedia

7 / 50

#44. Pine Manor CDP, Florida

Median household income: $17,917
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,444
Unemployment rate: 12.2%

Bubba73 (Jud McCranie)//Wikimedia

8 / 50

#43. Fitzgerald, Georgia

Median household income: $18,396
Employed population 16 years and over: 2,242
Unemployment rate: 8.5%

Billy Hathorn//Wikimedia

9 / 50

#42. Homer, Louisiana

Median household income: $18,414
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,005
Unemployment rate: 21.4%

Daniel Case//Wikipedia

10 / 50

#41. Kaser, New York

Median household income: $18,538
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,197
Unemployment rate: 5.7%

Nyttend//Wikimedia

11 / 50

#40. Prestonsburg, Kentucky

Median household income: $18,711
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,139
Unemployment rate: 8.3%

Ammodramus//Wikimedia

12 / 50

#39. Kingstree, South Carolina

Median household income: $19,073
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,231
Unemployment rate: 6.7%

Thomas R Machnitzki (thomas@machnitzki.com)//Wikimedia

13 / 50

#38. Marianna, Arkansas

Median household income: $19,318
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,190
Unemployment rate: 19.6%

Bev Sykes from Davis, CA, USA//Wikimedia

14 / 50

#37. University of California-Davis CDP, California

Median household income: $19,677
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,531
Unemployment rate: 13.8%

Nyttend//Wikimedia

15 / 50

#36. East Cleveland, Ohio

Median household income: $19,953
Employed population 16 years and over: 5,501
Unemployment rate: 24.9%

Brian M. Powell (user Bitmapped on en.wikipedia)//Wikimedia

16 / 50

#35. Philippi, West Virginia

Median household income: $19,957
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,233
Unemployment rate: 10.9%

Boston Public Library//Wikimedia

17 / 50

#34. Yazoo City, Mississippi

Median household income: $20,038
Employed population 16 years and over: 3,272
Unemployment rate: 24.4%

Ken L. from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA//Wikimedia

18 / 50

#33. South Tucson, Arizona

Median household income: $20,241
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,869
Unemployment rate: 20.9%

Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States//Wikimedia

19 / 50

#32. Duquesne, Pennsylvania

Median household income: $21,495
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,774
Unemployment rate: 24.8%

Brian Stansberry//Wikimedia

20 / 50

#31. Oneida, Tennessee

Median household income: $22,021
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,113
Unemployment rate: 23.7%

AllenS//Wikimedia

21 / 50

#30. Anthony, New Mexico

Median household income: $22,724
Employed population 16 years and over: 3,509
Unemployment rate: 10.2%

Michael Barera//Wikimedia

22 / 50

#29. Hugo, Oklahoma

Median household income: $23,108
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,417
Unemployment rate: 16.1%

Linda Roy Walls//Wikimedia

23 / 50

#28. Princess Anne, Maryland

Median household income: $23,362
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,215
Unemployment rate: 7.0%

Bungaloid//Wikimedia

24 / 50

#27. El Dorado Springs, Missouri

Median household income: $23,485
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,106
Unemployment rate: 12.2%

Spencer Means//Flickr

25 / 50

#26. Bucksport CDP, Maine

Median household income: $23,865
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,077
Unemployment rate: 8.2%

Katja Schulz from Washington, D. C., USA//Wikimedia

26 / 50

#25. Salmon, Idaho

Median household income: $24,216
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,221
Unemployment rate: 6.4%

Xnatedawgx//Wikimedia

27 / 50

#24. Walsenburg, Colorado

Median household income: $24,779
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,005
Unemployment rate: 22.3%

MarmadukePercy//Wikimedia

28 / 50

#23. Rocky Mount, Virginia

Median household income: $25,833
Employed population 16 years and over: 2,000
Unemployment rate: 5.9%

Smallbones//Wikimedia

29 / 50

#22. Camden, New Jersey

Median household income: $26,214
Employed population 16 years and over: 25,370
Unemployment rate: 16.5%

NEEDS IMAGE

30 / 50

#21. Ainaloa CDP, Hawaii

Median household income: $27,128
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,002
Unemployment rate: 14.1%

Ron Reiring//Wikimedia

31 / 50

#20. Ontario, Oregon

Median household income: $27,262
Employed population 16 years and over: 4,055
Unemployment rate: 10.6%

Joe Mabel//Wikimedia

32 / 50

#19. Pullman, Washington

Median household income: $27,831
Employed population 16 years and over: 14,715
Unemployment rate: 11.0%

NEEDS IMAGE

33 / 50

#18. Oaklawn-Sunview CDP, Kansas

Median household income: $28,792
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,324
Unemployment rate: 8.5%

John Phelan//Wikimedia

34 / 50

#17. Central Falls, Rhode Island

Median household income: $28,901
Employed population 16 years and over: 8,266
Unemployment rate: 10.4%

Sector001//Wikimedia

35 / 50

#16. Centerville, Iowa

Median household income: $30,442
Employed population 16 years and over: 2,419
Unemployment rate: 7.8%

Royalbroil//Wikimedia

36 / 50

#15. Whitewater, Wisconsin

Median household income: $30,934
Employed population 16 years and over: 7,809
Unemployment rate: 8.8%

Magicpiano//Wikimedia

37 / 50

#14. Vermillion, South Dakota

Median household income: $31,155
Employed population 16 years and over: 5,928
Unemployment rate: 7.6%

AlexiusHoratius//Wikimedia

38 / 50

#13. Pine City, Minnesota

Median household income: $31,190
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,374
Unemployment rate: 3.8%

Itsa Ortiz//Wikimedia

39 / 50

#12. Hamilton, Montana

Median household income: $31,845
Employed population 16 years and over: 2,129
Unemployment rate: 6.5%

Sfoskett commonswiki//Wikimedia

40 / 50

#11. Bellows Falls, Vermont

Median household income: $31,963
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,394
Unemployment rate: 5.7%

John Phelan//Wikimedia

41 / 50

#10. Hartford, Connecticut

Median household income: $32,095
Employed population 16 years and over: 49,385
Unemployment rate: 17.5%

John Phelan//Wikimedia

42 / 50

#9. Amherst Center CDP, Massachusetts

Median household income: $32,121
Employed population 16 years and over: 8,273
Unemployment rate: 12.8%

Cathixx//Wikimedia

43 / 50

#8. Laughlin CDP, Nevada

Median household income: $32,758
Employed population 16 years and over: 2,221
Unemployment rate: 15.4%

Idawriter//Wikimedia

44 / 50

#7. Fox Farm-College CDP, Wyoming

Median household income: $33,015
Employed population 16 years and over: 2,064
Unemployment rate: 3.3%

Ammodramus//Wikimedia

45 / 50

#6. Superior, Nebraska

Median household income: $35,536
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,017
Unemployment rate: 2.0%

C.Maylett//Wikimedia

46 / 50

#5. Parowan, Utah

Median household income: $36,127
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,126
Unemployment rate: 14.7%

Lee Cannon//Flickr

47 / 50

#4. Laurel, Delaware

Median household income: $36,335
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,519
Unemployment rate: 10.1%

Siego// Wikimedia Commons

48 / 50

#3. Rugby, North Dakota

Median household income: $37,450
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,438
Unemployment rate: 0%

Gopats92//Wikimedia

49 / 50

#2. Littleton CDP, New Hampshire

Median household income: $37,727
Employed population 16 years and over: 2,406
Unemployment rate: 7.5%

brewbooks//Wikimedia

50 / 50

#1. Wrangell, Alaska

Median household income: $52,986
Employed population 16 years and over: 1,096
Unemployment rate: 7.2%

The poorest town in every state

#50. Notre Dame CDP, Indiana

#49. Boone, North Carolina

#48. Citrus City CDP, Texas

#47. Livingston, Alabama

#46. Centreville, Illinois

#45. Highland Park, Michigan

#44. Pine Manor CDP, Florida

#43. Fitzgerald, Georgia

#42. Homer, Louisiana

#41. Kaser, New York

#40. Prestonsburg, Kentucky

#39. Kingstree, South Carolina

#38. Marianna, Arkansas

#37. University of California-Davis CDP, California

#36. East Cleveland, Ohio

#35. Philippi, West Virginia

#34. Yazoo City, Mississippi

#33. South Tucson, Arizona

#32. Duquesne, Pennsylvania

#31. Oneida, Tennessee

#30. Anthony, New Mexico

#29. Hugo, Oklahoma

#28. Princess Anne, Maryland

#27. El Dorado Springs, Missouri

#26. Bucksport CDP, Maine

#25. Salmon, Idaho

#24. Walsenburg, Colorado

#23. Rocky Mount, Virginia

#22. Camden, New Jersey

#21. Ainaloa CDP, Hawaii

#20. Ontario, Oregon

#19. Pullman, Washington

#18. Oaklawn-Sunview CDP, Kansas

#17. Central Falls, Rhode Island

#16. Centerville, Iowa

#15. Whitewater, Wisconsin

#14. Vermillion, South Dakota

#13. Pine City, Minnesota

#12. Hamilton, Montana

#11. Bellows Falls, Vermont

#10. Hartford, Connecticut

#9. Amherst Center CDP, Massachusetts

#8. Laughlin CDP, Nevada

#7. Fox Farm-College CDP, Wyoming

#6. Superior, Nebraska

#5. Parowan, Utah

#4. Laurel, Delaware

#3. Rugby, North Dakota

#2. Littleton CDP, New Hampshire

#1. Wrangell, Alaska

Related stories

Trending stories