Share this article!

As the year-end giving season kicks into gear, WalletHub has published this year’s edition of its Neediest Cities in America report.

WalletHub compared more than 180 cities across 28 key metrics – including child and adult poverty, food insecurity, homelessness, the lack of insurance, and homes lacking adequate plumbing and kitchens – to determine which city has the highest populations of the economically disadvantaged. Detroit topped this year’s list due to having the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 9.1%, the highest adult poverty rate, and the second-highest child poverty rate in the country.

“Detroit’s housing situation is far from ideal for many people,” the report added. “The city has the third-highest share of households lacking complete plumbing facilities and the 10th-highest share lacking complete kitchen facilities. It has the fifth-highest share of households without a computer and the seventh-highest share without a broadband internet connection, too.”

Rounding out the top five cities as being among the nation’s neediest were Brownsville, Texas; Shreveport, Louisiana; Clevland; and Little Rock, Arkansas. At the other end of the list was Overland Park, Kansas, which ranked lowest at 182nd among the neediest cities.

“In the neediest cities, a large number of people lack access to adequate food, health care and shelter, but there are plenty of other less obvious issues that also need to be resolved,” said Chip Lupo, WalletHub analyst. “The neediest cities need to address problems like high school dropout rates, lack of access to quality internet, overcrowded housing, poor mental health and more. Fixing these issues can lift people out of poverty, lower crime rates, and elevate people’s mental and physical health.”