The Poorest States In The U.S. (PHOTOS)

The Great Recession increased poverty in 31 of 50 U.S. states last year, according to data released Tuesday by the Census Bureau. These states, which all saw both the number and the percentage of residents living in poverty rise in 2009, were almost entirely concentrated in the South.

In 2009, 14.3 percent of all Americans -- or 42.9 million people -- had incomes that fell below the official poverty line, which varies from state to state. That percentage was up from 13.2 percent in 2008. In addition, income inequality hit an all-time high in 2009.

At the state level, the percentage of residents living in poverty last year was highest in Mississippi, at 21.9 percent, and lowest in New Hampshire, where 8.5 percent of residents had incomes beneath the threshold. Another 10 southern states had a poverty rate that exceeded 15 percent. (The New York Times has a great summary here.)

To capture exactly how far some residents were living below the poverty line, the Census Bureau also recorded income-to-poverty ratios in each state. The percentage of Americans living on incomes that were less than half of their state's poverty threshold -- or had an income-to-poverty ratio below 50 percent -- grew to 6.3 percent from 5.6 percent in 2009, and was highest in Washington, D.C.

One of the most harrowing stats, released by the Census last Thursday, shows that the highest number of Americans are living in poverty since the Census published its first estimates 51 years ago.

For a PDF of the Census Bureau's most recent report, click here. And below are, according to Census data, the 11 poorest states in the U.S.:

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11. Tennessee

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Below poverty threshold in 2009: 17.1% Below poverty threshold in 2008: 15.7% Residents whose income fell below poverty threshold between 2008 and 2009: 101,539

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Below poverty threshold in 2009: 17.1%
Below poverty threshold in 2008: 15.7%
Residents whose income fell below poverty threshold between 2008 and 2009: 101,539

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Most Surprising Poor States

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Most Surprising Poor States

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Comments

[bluesoul]

09:02 PM on 11/04/2010

The great irony in this is that Kentucky among other southern red states is one of the poorest in the USA

[ggmome]

05:16 AM on 10/27/2010

...And who is surprised by this? All solid below the Mason/Dixon Line, and mostly involving African Americans...Tell me this is not 'FOR PURPOSE'?

[vetxcl]

03:32 AM on 10/27/2010

ok so shoot me if this is too obvious, but ever consider moving to where a job is available?? like:http://www.jsonline.com/business/105835623.html

[Erickay]

10:13 PM on 11/21/2010

That's really clever, just suggest people move... and the cost of moving wouldn't be a deterrent, would it? I wish those who criticize would refrain from oversimplifying every issue with unhelpful "advice."

[LinAus]

07:36 PM on 10/25/2010

This is nothing new.

The poor people in the South and Southwest are the same ones who have been poor
for many decades. Namely:

African-Americans in the South
Latinos/Hispanics (including illegals) Texas and the SW (border w/Mexico)

So what else are you discussing? There is nothing else to talk about. We know where
they came from also. The Blacks in the South have ancestors who were brought here against their will as slaves. The non-whites in Texas and the SW are the same as always, hispanics and latinos.

This is so NOT new. Non-whites have always made up a majority of the poor in this
country.

[Kareness]

04:51 PM on 10/27/2010

You are wrong. The majority of whites in the deep south are dirt poor. To focus this on minorities is foolish and inaccurate. Ever heard of white trash? Ever even lived in these places before?

[r callison]

02:38 PM on 10/21/2010

stein lip20 Wrote: “The problems is not the government as Dem, the problems is the Repub as Senators and House Rep. They are the ones that make sure the state have the money and work to get the jobs necessary for the state. So you have that wrong!!!”
………………………………………………………………………………………………

Well it’s obvious that you have limited knowledge of the “state governments” roll and frankly it’s just not your forte. Educate yourself before you open your mouth. Further I suggest this, do your own “factual research” on an issue before posting anymore idiotic statements, backup what you say with “FACTS” not “HEARSAY”.


I leave you with this;



It’s not that their RED

It’s not that their BLUE

It’s having the KNOWLEDGE

THAT ALL POLITICIANS WILL LIE TO YOU





“Get Out & Vote…….THEY ALL NEED TO GO”

[LinAus]

07:34 PM on 10/25/2010

I don't mean to be rude, but look here. Correct:

They are - they're

Thank you for your post, I like most of it.
Thanking you in advance for your attention to this matter.

[vetxcl]

03:34 AM on 10/27/2010

if they all need to go then who will you be voting for, especially since they all need to go???
perhaps you haven't eaten enough, or gotten enough sleep.
have you considered moving to where there are jobs? http://www.jsonline.com/business/105835623.html

[r callison]

03:47 PM on 10/27/2010

LOL.....yes they all need to go, but just the knuckleheads & puppets (in office) and yes I need more sleep and no I dont need a job, but thank you for your concern.

[Mike Henneberry]

09:07 PM on 10/20/2010

What's surprising is that people are actually surprised by this list. In Texas, New Mexico, and Mississippi, abour 1/4 people don't have health insurance, and a lot of them are kids. It's no surprise to me that they would have really high poverty rates.

[Johann F]

05:42 PM on 10/20/2010

Some posters mentioned education, fishing and hunting in the south.
It is true that some 60 year old persons read like a 5th grader, but younger persons do not lack of education. Some go hunting and fishing, but most do not.
The south is in the bible belt, but it estimated that only 5% - 7% read the bible and / or attend church.
The carolinas are the most taxed on income tax with n. carolina that ranked 2nd in the nation just a few years back. Tennessee has no state income tax, but there sales tax is way up there.
Some poster mentioned the housing problem. That was Clinton's laws and doings with Fannie to start with. It may be true that Bush reacted to slow to the problem, but in the past we had very good business and it was not expected that business would slow down more.
But Bush gave you a real tax cut, that saves the middle class worker up to $ 2,500 on income tax a year. This tax cut run's out end of this year, if not be extended. Bush gave every taxpayer a stimulus money in one check, that saved a lot of people from loosing there homes.
Obama done the same thing, but it saves you about $10 a week on income tax. If Obama would had done it ,the same way Bush did, a lot of homes could had been saved from foreclosure. Obamas tax cut will run out this

[JSDKoeln]

05:00 AM on 10/21/2010

Me thinks you've been drinking too much tea.

[LinAus]

07:39 PM on 10/25/2010

Whaaat? Why are you talking fishing and hunting in the South?? Irrelevant.

The poor people in the South and Southwest are the same ones who have been poor
for many decades. Namely:

African-Americans in the South
Latinos/Hispanics (including illegals) Texas and the SW (border w/Mexico)

So what else are you discussing? There is nothing else to talk about. We know where
they came from also. The Blacks in the South have ancestors who were brought here against their will as slaves. The non-whites in Texas and the SW are the same as always, hispanics and latinos.

This is so NOT new. Non-whites have always made up a majority of the poor in this
country

[vetxcl]

01:21 AM on 10/29/2010

ah, but you forget the newer trend. you may get your chance to participate soon. keep your education relevant. know where the job growth is. (yes, it is there, but it's not always advertised.)

[Johann F]

05:38 PM on 10/20/2010

This problem has been going on for the last 12 years or better, but it got worse with the current economic crises.Northern states are strong union states. If you get the union in a company in the south you get threatened or fired. If the union manage to get there foot in the company, the company either will shut the doors for about 1 month or more and then reopen or move somewhere else.
Southern states have been known to deal with cotton, textile, leather, furniture and coal as there main industries.
Cotton and textile went to china. Leather went to mexico and later on to asia. Furniture went to asia. Coal was replaced with gas, electric and atomic energies.
Agriculture land was sold for housing and work on farms and therefore work got less there.
All those used to be major industries in the south.
When industries like that going over-seas there is a lot of problem with it that involves every body. The greed of the rich and there companies are our down falls.

[LinAus]

07:40 PM on 10/25/2010

This is nothing new.

The poor people in the South and Southwest are the same ones who have been poor
for many decades. Namely:

African-Americans in the South
Latinos/Hispanics (including illegals) Texas and the SW (border w/Mexico)

So what else are you discussing? There is nothing else to talk about. We know where
they came from also. The Blacks in the South have ancestors who were brought here against their will as slaves. The non-whites in Texas and the SW are the same as always, hispanics and latinos.

This is so NOT new. Non-whites have always made up a majority of the poor in this
country

[Lgreenbee]

09:59 AM on 10/20/2010

Are we not surprised that the southern states for the most part have failed their people. They are 99% republican represented, whose interests are not in the people, but in big business, banks, insurance lobbiests, any one who can line their pockets either for campaign finance or the darker side quid pro quo. Is it not surprising, many of the same states who fought the civil war to retain slavery. I love the south, but large gated communities are built up amist poverty along with club houses and country clubs and its just not someplace I could live where the government isn't interested in working for a nice wholesome state... instead of pockets of development for the rich. I wonder why the people of those states don't understand the difference between their elected leaders parties. Poverty States listed in this article should stop listening to the church leaders about who the better Christians are (Republicans) they are told and start wondering what would Jesus do .. How would he take care of his flock. If they can't vote for Democrats who are clearly the peoples party - well then perhaps they deserve the scraps of life. My compassion is tempered at this point...by my passion for what the democrats have done for the poorer people in this country....NOW is the time the poorer people of this country need to step up to the machine and VOTE, if you live in a state with high poverty vote Democrat.

[dapperdan08]

09:31 AM on 10/20/2010

All bible belt states...A little more work and a little less hunting, fishing and quoting the bible
they can't read would help..The uneducated south, always has been that way and likely
always will ...

[LinAus]

07:41 PM on 10/25/2010

Fishing? Bibles??

The poor people in the South and Southwest are the same ones who have been poor
for many decades. Non-white racial minorities. Namely:

African-Americans in the South
Latinos/Hispanics (including illegals) Texas and the SW (border w/Mexico)

So what else are you discussing? There is nothing else to talk about. We know where
they came from also. The Blacks in the South have ancestors who were brought here against their will as slaves. The non-whites in Texas and the SW are the same as always, hispanics and latinos.

This is so NOT new. Non-whites have always made up a majority of the poor in this
country

[vetxcl]

01:23 AM on 10/29/2010

you sure you don't want to change your moniker to petenrepeat?

[Cindy Reed]

10:24 PM on 10/19/2010

This is interesting in reference to the poorest states. I think one of the problems are identifiying and learning each others cultural. We have to learn each others culturals in order to resolve the race issues. Each culture or ethnic group have something to offer. Mississippi in particularly introduced gaming and had money coming out of their ears, but, failed to put the money into education and its economy. As any state, we get the policticans elected but they develop tunnel syndromes. They have no vision and do not know what is happening with their districts or states. Self motives and Self directions. How long did it take Bush to recognize that their was something wrong in the housing market. We knew it, it took our financial districts to screw up before someone raised a flag and said, wait a second we have a housing epidemic. People are still losing their homes and cannot find jobs. Why is it the USA Corporate Giants keep outsourcing? We pump money into the economy and we continue to patch the problems. We have had cultural difference for years that can be an easy fix, if we just educate ourselves on cultural differency and place value and acceptance of what we need to fix. We have U S Senators and Congressmen who probably do not even know where their district is or never saw the back of it.

[mslisa1970]

06:43 PM on 10/19/2010

This makes me so sad that I am literally crying right now. Why do so many have to suffer when there are so many people living with money that they will never spend in their lifetimes. People like athletes and pop stars making their millions and living in million dollar mansions while little American children are crying and going hungry. Do those people really work any harder then anybody else out there? The comments that I have read here are trying to say that it has to do with the government and specific political parties. Wake up people!! You are responsible!! We are all responsible. Stop playing the blame game. I am so tired of everybody blaming someone else for the world's problems. If you try to blame a mistake at work on someone what does the boss say? He says I don't care whose fault it is, let's just fix the problem. Imagine that! Everybody thought that Obama was going to change the world and the entire country would be different because he is President. Wake up people!! One man does NOT have that much POWER nor would we want him to. It is up to us to help in every possible way that we can. If we all helped out in our own small communities and families and put the RIGHT people in office, maybe then we would start to see changes. However, until we all get involved, this will be the result. How sad!

[LinAus]

07:43 PM on 10/25/2010

This is nothing new.

The poor people in the South and Southwest are the same ones who have been poor
for many decades. non-white racial minorities...Namely:

African-Americans in the South
Latinos/Hispanics (including illegals) Texas and the SW (border w/Mexico)

So what else are you discussing? There is nothing else to talk about.
Any talk other than Non-White racial minorities=poor, is irrelevant.

We know where they came from also. The Blacks in the South have ancestors who were brought here against their will as slaves. The non-whites in Texas and the SW are the same as always, hispanics and latinos.

This is so NOT new. Non-whites have always made up a majority of the poor in this
country

[vetxcl]

01:23 AM on 10/29/2010

you sure you don't want to change your moniker to petenrepeat?
or how about postnrepost?

[shara]

04:32 PM on 10/19/2010

OK HERE WE GO. I DON'T THINK THE COLOR OF THE SKIN OR THE COUNTRY WHERE YOU ARE FROM HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE WORLD OR NORTH AMERICA, WE ARE ALL MIGRANTS.FROM OUR GENERATIONS FROM EUROPE, AFRICA AND ALL OVER THE GLOBE AND IF WE ANALIZE THIS MORE BETTER. THERE IS CITIZEN THAT WAS BORN HERE ARE LIVING OFF OUR TAX DOLLARS NOT JUST IMMIGRANTS SO IN MY OPINION IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU ARE A IMMIGRANT OR CITIZEN THE PROBLEM IS HOW WE ARE SPENDING. WE CANNOT BLAME IMMIGRANTS OR CITIZEN BECAUSE SOME IMMIGRANTS DO PAY TAXES FOR CITIZENS THAT ARE NOT WORKING. WE AS HUMANS NEED TO ANALIZE THINGS BEFORE WE SPEAK. IGNORANCE DONT SOLVED THE PROBLEM OF POVERTY IN THE NORTH AMERICAS. AND DONT GET ME WRONG AMERICA IS THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY SO EVERY RACE IS GOING TO COME HERE AND TRY TO ACHIEVED SOMETHING WETHER YOU ARE BLACK OR WHITE OR BROWN DONT MAKE NO DIFFERENCE SOME MAKE IT AND SOME DONT. SO CAN WE AS HUMAN JUST EMMANCIPATE OURSELVES FROM MENTAL SLAVERY BECAUSE NONE BUT OUR SELVES CAN FREE OUR MINDS ESPECIALLY FROM IGNORANCE. WE CANNOT JUDGE THE COLOR OF THE SKIN GOD CREATED US ALL AND DONT FORGET WE ARE ALL IMMIGRANTS. AND OUT OF MANY WE ARE ONE UNDER GOD.

[aepluribus]

11:43 AM on 10/25/2010

You offered up some good points, but there is one correction worth noting. Your comment "we are all migrants" is incorrect. My family did not migrate to America, my grandparents were kidnapped and brought here from Africa. You really should read the true history of America as it pertains to the different ethnic groups of people who live here. Believe me when I say this, no one ever voluntarily came to America to be a Slave and work for free for life.

[LinAus]

07:45 PM on 10/25/2010

First of all, please stop screaming.

Next of all, no we re not all migrants.
And yes, the most number of poor people ARE non-Whites.

Blacks and hispanic/latinos. Hence the South and Southwest.

This is nothing new.

The poor people in the South and Southwest are the same ones who have been poor
for many decades. non-white racial minorities­...Namely:

African-Americans in the South
Latinos/Hispanics (including illegals) Texas and the SW (border w/Mexico)

So what else are you discussing? There is nothing else to talk about.
Any talk other than Non-White racial minorities=poor, is irrelevant.

We know where they came from also. The Blacks in the South have ancestors who were brought here against their will as slaves. The non-whites in Texas and the SW are the same as always, hispanics and latinos.

This is so NOT new. Non-whites have always made up a majority of the poor in this
country

[Raven Forrest]

04:32 PM on 10/19/2010

As I proceeded to the last photo I noticed an advertisement of winning $5000 a week for life. How is it that a company can afford to give away that amount of money when there are states as a whole that are suffering in these conditions! I say use your money wisely! When one of US are hurting we all are hurting. And for those not hurt as badly reach to help someone worse off than you, at least to where you are; that way you have more people on your side willing to help you fight. If we all would come together and get rid of this individualist mentality we would eventually be okay. But then again there are some that are motivated off the suffering of others. they say "somebodys gotta do it." Yes, you are right. and because of the limited jobs out there someone will do it, but because they choose to. No person/family/state deserves to live like this! Not when their neighboring states are living comfortably the way they are! There is nothing wron with helping! lets learn to take care of others as we take care of ourselves!

I

[vetxcl]

02:04 AM on 10/29/2010

have you considered the medical field? it's a growth "industry". there are also ways to stair - step up the skill ladder and pay scale. google.

[Deidra Plooy]

04:32 PM on 10/19/2010

Yes, I agree that they are red states. That means they are voting for Republican presidents. But, the majority of the states are controlled by Democrats.

[LinAus]

07:47 PM on 10/25/2010

Whaaat???

This is nothing new.

The poor people in the South and Southwest are the same ones who have been poor
for many decades. non-white racial minorities­...Namely:

African-Americans in the South
Latinos/Hispanics (including illegals) Texas and the SW (border w/Mexico)

So what else are you discussing? There is nothing else to talk about.
Any talk other than Non-White racial minorities=poor, is irrelevant.

We know where they came from also. The Blacks in the South have ancestors who were brought here against their will as slaves. The non-whites in Texas and the SW are the same as always, hispanics and latinos.

This is so NOT new. Non-whites have always made up a majority of the poor in this
country

[vetxcl]

03:39 AM on 10/27/2010

not this election cycle. more like senators and governors.