Study Finds Michigan is Home to the Neediest City in the U.S.

A new study set out to determine which U.S. cities have the largest percentage of residents that are economically disadvantaged - unfortunately a Michigan city is ranked No. 1.

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WalletHub compared 182 cities across two key dimensions: “Economic Well-Being” and “Health & Safety". They looked at data like the child poverty rate, food insecurity rate, homelessness rate, suicide rate, crime rate, and uninsured rate.

Wallethub found that that the No. 1 neediest city in the U.S. is Detroit, Mich.

With a total score of 61.43, Detroit came in at No. 1 in terms of Economic Well Being Rink and No. 5 in the Health and Safety Rink.

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Detroit is the neediest city, in large part due to the fact that it has the highest unemployment rate in the nation, at 8.3%. Motown also has the second-highest adult poverty rate and third-highest child poverty rate in the country, with more than a quarter of adults and close to half of children living below the poverty line. While Detroit is known for its big role in the auto industry and is part of the backbone of America’s economy, its own residents are unfortunately struggling.

Detroit’s needs aren’t all financial, though. Safety is a big concern, too, as the city has the second-highest violent crime rate in the nation (per 1,000 residents) and one of the highest crime rates overall.

Wallethub's rest of the Top 5 Neediest Cities are:

1. Detroit, Michigan
2. Brownsville, Texas
3. Fresno, California
4. Gulfport, Mississippi
5. Cleveland, Ohio

On the flip side of that, Wallethub determined the least needy city to be Overland Park, Kansas.

The only other Michigan city in the ranking, Grand Rapids, came in at No. 109.

Check out the full study here.