2010 Census: Poorest Counties In America

Since 2000 the poorest Americans have only gotten poorer.

Though census results are only beginning to be released, last week the results of the American Community Survey were revealed. The ACS details data such as languages spoken in a home and income levels. The data comes from surveys mailed to three million addresses from January 2005 to December 2009, according to ABC News.

Southeastern Kentucky was home to four of the nation's poorest counties. The country's poorest county saw its median income drop $1,500 since 2000, ABC News reported.

Northeast Virginia led the nation in income, as it was home to 4 of the top 10 earning cities. The top richest county saw a median income increase of almost $17,000 since 200.

For a list of the richest counties in America, click here.

To find out more about your neighborhood, visit http://factfinder.census.gov.

1 of 10

10. Allendale County, SC

1 of 11

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

Median Income: $20,551

Jon Corzine, Ex-MF Global CEO, Netted More Than $8 Million Before Firm's Collapse

Celebrity Home Prices Not Seeing A Boost From Their Famous Owners

Health Care Access Worsened For Americans Since 2000: Report

Number Of PhD Recipients Using Food Stamps Surged During Recession: Report

CEO Pay Grew 127 Times Faster Than Worker Pay Over Last 30 Years: Study

Foreclosed Homes Destroyed By Previous Owners (VIDEO)

Median Income: $20,551

comments(495)

Total comments: 495 | Post a Comment

1 of 11

Rate This Slide

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

• 
  1
• 
  2
• 
  3
• 
  4
• 
  5
• 
  6
• 
  7
• 
  8
• 
  9
• 
  10

Current Top 5 Slides

loading...

Choose your Top 5 Slides

UserName

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Top User Slides

← Prev|Next →

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Users who voted on this slide

← Prev|Next →

loading...

Comments

[Michael Rajotte]

12:18 AM on 01/23/2011

well... Allendale is where srs is, where they make nukes. check the cancer rate, why do so many people post on here, is the one site that wont delete your comments? must be huh?

[redstateblues69]

09:54 PM on 01/22/2011

Red states, red counties. Why don't they get the connection?

[ceefee]

03:42 PM on 01/24/2011

Yep.

[TerryDArc]

09:50 PM on 01/22/2011

State of KY stats:
Owsley County: 969 Dems 2526 Repubs
Lee County : 1929 3137
Breathitt : 10,184 807
Magoffin : 7,085 2,734

Two heavily Republican, two heavily Democratic. Go figure.

cf. http://www.elect.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/9B962D0A-E25D-43DE-8DE6-8603346E3433/247471/statcnty.txt

[botwarble]

01:23 PM on 01/24/2011

Though registered D, these are dixiecrat zones that always vote R in national races while all local candidates run as D since that is the history. And don't blame Mitch or Rand, one person - Harold "hog jowls" Hal Rogers - is king of this domain. While considered a pork barreler (physically, too), he only offers slop to his constituents.

[TerryDArc]

09:39 PM on 01/22/2011

As long as these counties are in deeply red states (and maybe keep voting red themselves) they vote against the self-interest of their citizens, in the face of logic. Not saying they deserve what they get but they a'int helpin' any.

[giono]

09:34 PM on 01/22/2011

Red counties all--- How to the Republicans get these folks to vote against there own self interest ???

[sc29403]

11:12 PM on 01/22/2011

By making sure their schools fail. Woo-hoo, No Child Left Behind! Mission Accomplished! An uneducated electorate incapable of thinking cling to their guns and religion and the Repubs keep telling them the Dems are after their guns and religion. They don't care about anything else.

[giono]

12:48 AM on 01/23/2011

SO TRUE

[ceefee]

03:43 PM on 01/24/2011

You got that right.

[BN68]

09:18 AM on 01/23/2011

Do you mean "their" own self interest? KY was a democrat state for many, many years and has been Republican only since their own ox was gored when Bill Clinton took away their tobacco bases.

[SirenForSanity]

02:30 PM on 01/22/2011

Sugar Ditch has moved up in the world.

[GLDeLashaw]

02:25 PM on 01/22/2011

Score one point for Oklahoma!

[Rowsdower]

02:22 PM on 01/22/2011

Four out of the top five are contiguous counties in Kentucky. That's impressive.

[redstateblues69]

09:55 PM on 01/22/2011

And now Rand Paul will take away their welfare.

[sc29403]

11:18 PM on 01/22/2011

Ain't that the truth. Historically, and compared to other countries, US citizens must be soooo poor to even be considered under the "legal" poverty line. When the World Health Organization did a study and adjusted figures to level the playing field, the US was 33 in poverty, just one up from Mexico at 34.

[BN68]

09:23 AM on 01/23/2011

I hope he does take away their welfare. I was born in the KY coalfield area and the worst day ever for that area was when Lyndon Johnson came in and declared his "War On Poverty" in 1964. He put thousands of people on welfare and they haven't worked since.

[KYJurisDoctor]

01:55 PM on 01/22/2011

Interesting. All the counties are in the South, and the South REFUSES to change.

[charles kellett]

09:47 AM on 12/26/2010

There were no census questions involving income! ?????????????

[Nukualofa]

02:09 PM on 12/30/2010

Read the story and pay attention to "American Community Survey." The headline is misleading. The Census Bureau does more than just count the people.

[made in USA]

06:53 AM on 12/23/2010

Did anyone notice that 8 of 10 of the richest counties were only one small state pr less removed from DC? Give me a break with this partisian BS.

[sc29403]

11:20 PM on 01/22/2011

"...one small state pr less removed from DC?" What?

[Candide33]

05:46 PM on 02/13/2011

Everyone who works in DC lives in Virginia and Maryland if they do not live inside the city limits of DC... which isn't really that big of a place all things considered.

[GeoLee]

10:51 PM on 12/22/2010

Yet all those KY counties went for Rand Paul, no doubt.

[big tom]

12:45 PM on 12/22/2010

karl rove is well aware, it s harder to fool a guy with a phd than a guy with a ged. the ged base is the republican strangle hold on the nation.

[charles kellett]

09:48 AM on 12/26/2010

you must have a ged--there were NO census questions about income!

[Bytheo]

05:10 PM on 01/06/2011

And you must be selective in your reading.

A) "...last week the results of the American Community Survey were revealed."
Read the paragraph above the slideshow. Why the headline said "census" I don't know, but you should be reading beyond just the headline.

B) Where did "big tom" say anything about the census or the source of this information?

[Bytheo]

05:15 PM on 01/06/2011

Clarification to my first post: When I say I don't know why census was used in the headline, I mean I don't know why the Huffington Post used such a general term. The American Community Survey is part of the Census Bureau, but I think it would have been smarter to have been more specific in the headline. Either way, the Census Bureau does more than count people and does more work than the count every ten years.

[KathleenW2]

12:44 PM on 12/22/2010

It would be interesting to know if the poorest counties in the USA are represented by Republicans or Democrats.

[FreeAmerican7]

10:44 AM on 12/23/2010

It is IRRELEVANT whether the poorest Counties are
Republican­s or Democrats or ANYTHING ELSE.
The REALITY is :
They are all UNDERLINGS of the SILKQ (Special Interest Lobbyists Kings & Queens) .
Unless and until there is a BAN on SILKQ; there is NO hope but to vote for the
"Lesser of the TWO Evils" since NOT voting at all is WORSE than flipping a Penny!
POOR People...especially the HOMELESS and soon to be HOMELESS....
should apply (to the STATE DEPARTMENT) for
FOREIGN AID to be used to build
"SETTLEMENTS" for POOR AMERICANS
NOT in Occupied Palestine/West Bank; but in EVERY POOR TOWN USA!!!!!!!!!!!

[jorjmack]

01:24 AM on 12/25/2010

What about "Shut yer gob" in the context of the Good Ole Boys?

[big tom]

12:43 PM on 12/22/2010

mitch mc onnell is doing a hella of a job. great work there in kentucky mitch.