In a recent report, 24/7 Wall St. came out with a list of the 50 worst American cities to live in based on a massive data review.
As reported by USA Today, researchers took a large number of variables into consideration when creating the list, including the quality of schools, the strength of the local economy and job market, the area’s safety and culture, and its climate. The flow of people in and out of these places largely depended on the city’s ability to perform in these categories.
Of the 50 cities, the top 10 ranked worst in the country were Wilmington, Del; Merced, Calif;, Hartford, Conn.; Albany, Ga.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Memphis Tenn.; St. Louis, Mo., Flint and Detroit, Mich.; and Birmingham, Ala.
Authors Michael B Sauter, Samuel Stebbins, and Evan Comen started their research by combing through the nearly 550 cities that the U.S. Census Bureau reported as having populations of more than 65,000 residents in 2015. The team them began rating them according to crime, demography, economy, education, environment, health, housing, infrastructure, and leisure.
Each category added to a city's overall "score," which determined which cities were most optimal -- and which fell far behind.
All 50 cities on 24/7 Wall St.'s list have median household incomes of below $53,657 a year. In 31 of those cities, more than a quarter of the residents live in poverty, compared to the national average of 15.5 percent.
According to their research, half the cities on the list had high housing costs, at 3.5 times the annual median household income.
The team also found that cities that have affordable homes are typically plagued by economic disparity, making the cost advantage relatively unimportant.
When it comes to crime, the group found that half the cities reported violent crime rates of about 1,000 per 100,000 people, compared to the national average of 373 reported incidents per 100,000 people.
Thank you for supporting MRCTV! As a tax-deductible, charitable organization, we rely on the support of our readers to keep us running! Keep MRCTV going with your gift here!