America's 10 Poorest States: 24/7 Wall St.

From 24/7 Wall St.: The U.S. Census Bureau released two pieces of widely followed data Tuesday — one on poverty and the other on median income for 2010. The most interesting findings in this release were the state-by-state figures, especially when compared to national averages. A closer look at the statistics shows that a relatively small number of states suffer such widespread levels of low income and poverty that they skew the national numbers downward.

The national poverty rate last year was 15.1%. That is up from 11.3% in 2000 and is the highest it has been since 1993. Over 46 million people lived below the poverty line in 2010. The cut-off for that line is households of four people who made under $22,314. The other troubling news was that median income per household nationwide was an inflation-adjusted $49,445. This is about the same as in 1989 and down 2.3% from 2009. Economists fear that Americans are not consumers. It is easy to tell why when their real income has been frozen in place for more than two decades.

The problems of poverty and low income are as much local as national. The poverty rate is 21% in Mississippi. The state also has the lowest median income at $36,850. Mississippi is among the states with the worst education systems, highest obesity levels, highest unemployment, and lowest rates of health insurance coverage. The state is an economic black hole, and it shows in the way people suffer there. And, as is true with black holes, it is nearly impossible for the residents of Mississippi to escape their difficult financial situations. There is a dearth of federal programs that target specific states and cities based on local economic need.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed census data from all 50 states on median income, poverty rates, unemployment, and lack of health insurance. We then identified the ten states that have the lowest median income. We also looked at why low-income households are concentrated in these states and what, in some cases, has been done to reverse the difficult situations.

These are the poorest states in America, according to 24/7 Wall St.:

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Comments

[baxtron]

12:06 PM on 11/14/2011

Gov of Tennessee says low taxes, low regulations will create jobs. How are they not at the bottom of the list?

[vobox3343]

10:18 AM on 11/14/2011

"It's the Liberal Media," lemmings. Pay no attention to these facts.

[momjones]

11:15 PM on 10/24/2011

Red states all...They demonize the poor and regulate the wealth so that it always trickles up. The repugnant plan for America.

[Horace Shealy]

05:40 PM on 10/17/2011

Come on down and try selling $7 hamburgers in a $2 town,

[NAMU2010]

11:23 AM on 10/01/2011

Not only are these states primarily Republican, most are at the top of the list when it comes to amount of aid received from the Federal Gov., and they are chock full of wingnuts complaining about that same Fed Gov. They wonder why Dems think Repubs are so stupid....here's proof.

[Taj Snead]

01:06 PM on 09/28/2011

the south is poor i wonder why? maybe cause of the GOP running the show down there

[stalexone]

01:54 PM on 09/27/2011

Looks like 250 years of slave labor did very little to lift these states up over the long run. Maybe if everyone had worked equally from 1619 on these states would be thriving.

[psychovet]

12:52 PM on 09/27/2011

Are all of these "Right to Work" States?

[ae12wrangell]

10:40 PM on 09/26/2011

I vacation in Vermont and New Hampshire. Both state's are poor. They should be #1, #2, or at least in the top 5 poorest!

[Hal May]

12:41 AM on 09/28/2011

New Hampshire has one of the lowest poverty rates in the country and the highest median income.

[baxtron]

12:07 PM on 11/14/2011

stop using facts.

[Madeleine Watt]

05:26 PM on 09/29/2011

Try living in western North Carolina. Then you'll know what poor really is.

[cjohn27]

11:36 PM on 09/25/2011

Don't get too excited about this list until you check out how statistics can be misused.

According to this list Utah is the 8th richest state. But in per capita income it is the 3rd poorest.

Why the difference? This list is an average of annual HOUSEHOLD income over the last three years, not per capita income in 2010 alone.

States with large households look richer and states with small households look poorer.

[wgdisk]

02:08 PM on 09/27/2011

Maybe it's cause all the wealth is in the hands of a few at the top of the heap. You know, kind of like America. If you eliminate the top 5% or so we probably rank below the Congo in Africa.

[djroxy05]

09:17 PM on 09/22/2011

Having grown up in the South(Florida), as well as being registered as a Republican for some time, (even though I'm more fiscally conservative and socially liberal), I am curious to hear others points of view on why is it exactly almost all of these in the list are "red states." I have been reading through the posts and while some have valid points, ie. lack of unions, tax cuts for rich, etc. , I am trying to read through some of the mud-slinging as well. I am not attempting to start any heated arguments, just honest curiosity because as it appears, unfortunately we are not doing something right.

[Rook119]

04:40 PM on 09/26/2011

No unions is part of it. However only about 10-15% of the workforce is unionized today so its not that big. The northern states have a few things going for them. Education (higher paid teachers, alot more colleges/universities in the NE - these are stable union/tenured jobs - and tuition is always rising), financial services/real estate (high paying jobs + higher property values - you don't see too many stock traders living in Mississippi do you?), health care (more hospitals, doctor's offices etc - ex. PA's largest employer: The University of Pittsburgh Medical System with 50K+ employees and its not the only system in town) and civil service/govt jobs (some unionized w/ stable employment, good pension and good health care).

Another reason is that this generation's era of senior citizens who lived in the north have good pension plans. Want to know a big reason why GM was bailed out? Millions would have lost their pensions and combine that with people who lost their jobs and the govt would have had to shell out alot more money that what the bailout was in the form of govt services for these people.

[stalexone]

02:01 PM on 09/27/2011

The South is still too agricultural and/or focused on low-end services jobs. Manufacturing was just getting a foothold when NAFTA came around so the South has really suffered. While many companies who were already there are staying put, it's ever so harder to entice new manufacturers in...and that's just not good enough to pick up these states.

While most of these states are red states, they are not completely red. As a non-red Republican (meaning open to other views), I think the South's problem is fear of change and progress. It's this "liberalism" that has allowed the Northern states and Western states to do better. Moderate conservatism in all things is the way to go, not right wing or too far left...

[Hal May]

12:47 AM on 09/28/2011

Manufacturing jobs in the south were on their way out way before NAFTA.

[comicpro]

06:06 PM on 09/21/2011

I am keeping politics out of if I could ..but I cant. There is a level of honesty that I must keep. These states are all red states or GOP or TP or whatever. Imagine if you will if they had their way the whole country would be one big Mississippi. The lack of opportunity and right to work states would have all working for peanuts while giving out tax breaks to the same companies. I am leaving this country for good in a few years, By then people who are lucky enough to be employed will take whatever they can get to survive!!!!

[bill87]

03:42 PM on 09/20/2011

First off these states have issues just like any state not on the list. But I think what is lost here is that cost of living isn't has high in most of these states either..

[wgdisk]

02:13 PM on 09/27/2011

Try buying a piece of property in one of them.

[bill87]

04:05 PM on 09/27/2011

that is everywhere, some more than others

[Madeleine Watt]

05:30 PM on 09/29/2011

AMEN!

[DrumminD21311]

02:43 AM on 09/20/2011

It's all about keeping the black man down. Mississippi has the highest percentage of African-Americans of any state by far.

[bill87]

03:28 PM on 09/20/2011

yeah. Im sure the residents of that state got together and said.... hey.. since we got so many black men let's make sure we do things that don't help our economy..

[Quinn M]

02:13 AM on 09/20/2011

Red states.

Good thing the GOP has wedge issues like gay marriage and abortion or those folks might start voting for their own economic interests.

[WasteNJ]

12:20 PM on 09/20/2011

Exactly. While their states are rated the most poor, the reps ans Senators from those states are in DC talking about giving the rich tax breaks and cutting social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and opposing unemployment benefits.

Classic case of fear vs logic. Fear of minorities, gays and "libruls" vs common sense economics.

[bill87]

03:27 PM on 09/20/2011

oh please who people want to have sex with has nothing to do with it for starters. I just paid $3.25/gallon for gas and I could have gotten cheaper if I had driven a little farther what did you pay!