After analyzing 170 of the states most populous cities (over 5,000 people), we came up with this list as the 10 worst places to live in the state of Pennsylvania:The 10 Worst Places To Live In Pennsylvania For 2021McKeesportDuquesneClairtonMcKees RocksReadingChesterDarbyHazletonLehightonAllentown. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Any man can change. Do you need underlay for laminate flooring on concrete? Kainaz Amaria/NPR In a recent article we looked at the poverty rates across all 50 U.S. states. Her 20-month-old daughter, Mikaela, was born prematurely. That's not a good statistic for us to be dealing with. "My unemployment [benefits] stopped, and [I] didn't know where I was going to turn," she says. When you click through real estate links on our site, we earn an affiliate commission. When the owner offered him the position, he instead negotiated for something else: The company became the first client of his fledgling IT company. These began fading during the second half of the 20th century and now the community ranks as the number 4 worst area in Pennsylvania. A lot of the folks that have worked in an industrial discipline or a manufacturing discipline are aging, baby boomers. MCMAHON: In thinking of the words that Ben Franklin made when he walked out of the room after signing the Declaration of Independence and a lady asked him, what have you given us, Dr. Franklin? Reading Demographics White: 53.95% Other race: 16.45% Two or more races: 13.96% Black or African American: 12.77%. Gary, Indiana, also makes the bottom ten at 38.3%. How does this site determine your precise elevation? William Bender is a professor at nearby Kutztown University and serves on the mayor's poverty commission. We can try and get your elevation from your device: Or you can enter a postcode to get the elevation for that postcode: We use two data sources to find your height above sea level: Your device, and Open Postcode Elevation. My City Photos Reading, PA is reported to be the poorest city in America, and we traveled there to speak to moms about what it's like to live there, and how it may influenc. U.S. Census shows Reading, Pa., is America's most poverty stricken city. Today, though, Reading is a different sort of symbol, as a new census reckoning makes it the poorest city in the nation. Gonzales dropped out of that same school a decade ago, when she got pregnant. Devora Trapp, 24, picks up her 8-month-old son, Dardarius Taylor, late one evening at the Opportunity House's Second Street Learning Center, a 24-hour day care center for low-income families in Reading, Pa. About 12 miles southeast of Pittsburgh is the rundown and partly abandoned city of McKeesport. Cycle Of Poverty Hard To Break In Poorest U.S. City : NPR Poverty is high, but it's a lot higher for single mothers. But, she quickly adds, "I wouldn't change anything in the world for my kids, my daughters. And before you get all riled up and say we're picking on small town America, that's not the case. All rights reserved. Decade after being declared nation's poorest big city, 1-in-3 hide caption. The bad news is that the poverty rate in many major American cities is staggeringly high. But, again, it's often one step forward, two steps back. I dropped out of school my 11th grade year because I got pregnant, became lazy, didn't want to do anything. This list is a scientific analysis based on real data and is completely unbiased. Theres about 19,000 people here. Fiume says for many of his low-income clients, getting a job isn't enough. John Weidenhammer has built a multi-million-dollar company in Reading, Pennsylvania, where 40 percent of the population lives in poverty. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Forty-one percent of the city's residents live below the poverty line; good-paying work is scarce as factories and other plants continue to shutter in a flagging economy. 1 Is Reading PA the poorest city in America? More than 41 percent of Reading's population of 88,000 now live beneath the . Crime also sits slightly above the national average. Cities with the Highest Poverty Rates in 2010, Data Show Countys Pain as Economy Plummeted, One Quarter of African-Americans and Latinos Live in Poverty, Is Joe Biden Too Old? The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. 9 How tall is the highest peak in Pennsylvania? American Graduate is a public media initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It was very difficult. Could we find anything GOOD about Hazleton? Population: 5,543Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)Median Home Value: $42,600Unemployment Rate: 13.8%More on Duquesne: Data|Photos. Weidenhammer Systems Corporation started off in a rented room in a Reading home 40 years ago. Median incomes sit at $42,294. I proceeded to read those manuals and highlight them and dog-ear them., The early exposure to IBMs new computer gave Weidenhammer a competitive edge. This dismal financial situation leads to other challenges. Their row house is cheerful, but chaotic and tiny. Pennsylvanias lower elevations are in the southeast part of the state and along the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers. So he started providing IT to clients across the country in a variety of industries, including a European pest-control company. A recent analysis on the 50 Poorest Cities in Every State in the US identified the poorest city in each state in the United States, using last 12 months' poverty data released by the U.S. Census . Historical data show that poverty has been rising in Pennylvania since 2000. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. my children eat poorly because that is all i can afford. U.S. Poverty Rate By City In 2021 - Forbes It turns out, in a few months the company was going to release the System/34, a computer that would allow businesses to automate much of their paperwork. When we had spoken to Figueroa, he knew his school still had to prove it could get results, but he believed it has the advantage of small size. Darby exists as a suburb of Philadelphia, about 20 minutes southwest of the city center. Boggs admits that she made some bad decisions in life and that her daughters' two fathers turned out to be unreliable. Jeffrey Brown reports from Reading, Pa., as part of . Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. What is sleep?" But she recently graduated from nursing school and just landed a full-time job at a nursing home. The unemployment rate comes in at 8.9% and the median income sits at $49,292. what upsets me is that in order for me to have the privilege to at least have my job (and believe me i am thankful for that), i have to be drug tested and i am ok with that. The high point in the state is Mount Davis , the peak of a long ridge called Negro Mountain , and can be found in southern Pennsylvania about four miles north of the Maryland border . He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. Good-paying work is scarce as factories. Tracy Boggs, single mother of two in Reading, Pa. Like many mothers in Reading, Boggs has no husband to share the bills. Our mission is to unite moms regardless of political affiliation in order to bring the issues they care about most to the forefront of the country's awareness in the 2012 election. Still, she thinks she has little choice and goes for interviews when she can get them. But now her job search is more difficult, because she has to hire a baby sitter if she gets called in for an interview, and funds are limited. To find high-skilled employees, Weidenhammer had to expand his search beyond Reading, where only eight percent of adults older than 25 have college degrees. But as factories shut down or moved away, he had to adapt. Near Reading Station 46. The 10 Worst Places To Live In Pennsylvania For 2021 McKeesport Duquesne Clairton McKees Rocks Reading Chester Darby Hazleton Lehighton Allentown What? hide caption. The south side of Reading is the worst part of town. July 11, 2012 Poverty among single mothers is an astounding 66 percent in Reading, Pa., where Jennifer Stepp is raising three children by herself. Poorest Cities In Pennsylvania For 2021 - RoadSnacks READING, Penn.For many people living in Americas poorest cities, success is elusive. Wheres our 5th worst place to move to in the state of Pennsylvania? Virginia Beach, with a population of close to 440,000, is another good exception, with only 7.3% of its population living below the poverty line, down from 8.3% five years ago. It is amazing when you actually get to see how products are made as simple as a Hershey Kiss nowadays. Reading, PA: Can you believe THIS is the poorest city in America? This Week In Credit Card News: Changes In Amazons Credit Cards; Is Goldman Sachs Ending Apple Partnership? Is Reading, PA a nice place to live? Kainaz Amaria/NPR That would be McKeesport. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Poverty Status in the Past 12 Months, 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year EstimatesPennsylvania. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_S1701&prodType=table. Even with these issues, there are bright spots in town. reading was destroyed by incompetant politicians and an indifferent population.trade deals by the establishment of both parties and wall street greed which moved factories finished off what was left.lazy good for nothing real estate investors than moved in for he kill.they bought up beautiful properties and wrecked them.charging high rents,illegally converting some homes to apartments and rooming houses destablizing whole blocks.as for those blind people in a dream world;who despite the lack of jobs, and 'reforms and reductions for two decades,in safty net programs, still gripe about 'welfare'and other programs for the poor.get real!what do you want?mass homelesness,more hunger?higher crime and even riots.plus even less economic activity if the money circulates through the businesses that are left and still providing employment are reduced or eliminated.don't be so smug!maybe you will need help someday?reading is the vangaurd of what is to come for many more american cities until illegal,immigration s curtailed and manufacturing returned to this country. How do you explain that? Its jobs base, grounded in the manufacturing of telecommunications equipment and automobile parts, was starting to disappear. You have a 1 in 33.3 chance of being robbed here every year. The 5,543 residents of Duquesne must suffer through a dismal economy, a high crime rate, and mediocre schools. For instance, you can check out the Allentown Art Museum. So Reading's reputation as the poorest city in the country is at best a misunderstanding of the data and, at worst a canard to bludgeon a city that folks within and without love to. Reading is Poorest City in U.S. - Commonwealth Foundation According to New York Times demographer Andrew Beveridge, Reading moved from number 37 of the country's poorest cities to But when she got her certificate in December and started to look for work, she realized there were no job openings in Reading. A reference to the sixth poorest city in the USA made me think of that old slogan for Sanka coffee (which, admittedly, doesn't have anything to do with Reading, PA or reeeeeading either, for that . Reading Depot, commonly referred to as Reading outer station, was a train station in Reading, Pennsylvania, that served as a major hub between Philadelphia and Williamsport, Pennsylvania.Reading Depot. It's about 8 p.m., and Meghan Gonzales is down the street from the learning center, at home with her four kids and husband. Later, again, Weidenhammer found that he was able to leverage a little bit of luck into big gains for his company: His brother worked for IBM in the late 70s, and Weidenhammer often played softball with him and his boss. With 41.3 percent of its residents living below the poverty line, Reading, Pa., is the poorest U.S. city with a population of 65,000 or more. The mother of four says she's so tired, she sometimes feels like she's 50 years old. Spayd's new plan is to connect businesses directly with area high schools. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. How does a community, in which more than four out of every 10 people are poor, make a go of things? Earlier in the week, Gonzales and her family went to the bank to open their first savings account, so they could start putting money aside. We understand theres a lot of good in every place. Student Loan Forgiveness Update: What We Know About Bidens Newest Plan, Student Loan Pause Extended? Yes, I knew it was coming. The unemployment rate comes in at 10.0% and the median income sits at $41,167. If you moved here, your children would on a daily basis be exposed to overdoses, gun violence, abandoned factories, slums and urban decay. 41% of the city's residents live below the poverty line. The unemployment rate stands at 9.2% and the community suffers a 31.3% poverty rate. were second and third. This access to a major metropolitan area provides one of the main draws for the town. How can I find out how tall I am above sea level? The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". He says the learning center can provide stability in the lives of children who might not get it elsewhere, and that maybe it can help break the cycle of poverty with that next generation. I guess it was a lucky break.. Gonzales is trying desperately to get ahead, and things are looking up. Jobs and companies have been fleeing Reading for years. The famous Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company would become one of the largest corporations in the country in the 1870s. MCMAHON: And the problem that I saw was happening is that, as the businesses moved out of the city and into the malls, the remaining businesses in the city had to leave or shut down. Tracy Boggs, 49, walks her daughter Emily, 7, to the Second Street Learning Center in Reading, Pa. Boggs is 49, soft-spoken, tired. Built along the west bank of the Monongahela River, Duquesne serves as a suburb of Pittsburgh. . Gone are the days when families in the Rust Belt could count on a manufacturing job out of high school to provide a decent standard of living. This is just a small example of the sophistication that's going on in manufacturing right now. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. She lost her job in February. In Reading, Pa., the nation's poorest city, local nonprofit Opportunity House provides a lifeline for families trying to stay afloat by offering day care, housing and other assistance. i can't tell you how many people i know that have moved here from new york and jersey simply for the fact that they can receive higher amounts of government assistance.you have thousands of women having 3 or 4 kids with 2 or 3 different men.you got parents who will try they're hardest to get they're child diagnosed with add just to collect more government assistance.i know women that have lost custody of all 4 of her children yet she collects food stamps for 4 children.so i don't wanna hear the pissing and moaning from anyone in that city because half the folks eat better then a lower class family that actually works for a living.i know guys on welfare who will get an interview at coca cola and before the employee can say a sentence.the guy will stop him and say look? Subscribe to Here's the Deal, our politics newsletter. live in poor neighborhoods Overall poverty rate: 12.8% (state: 12.5%) Neighborhoods with concentrated poverty: 10 . That's caused the population to rise, even as jobs went away. But the past few years delivered more closings and layoffs, sending the citys poverty rate up to 41.3 percent. we are poor. McKees Rocks Aliquippa Again, this isn't a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Embed odysseynetworks 2499 views 10 years ago Reading, Pa. was recently named the poorest city in America, according to recent census figures. Here are the 20 cities with the lowest percentage of people living below the poverty line: Now well look at the flipside: Major U.S. cities with the highest rates of poverty. What are the 2 types of temperature sensor? The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Well, even decades later, Allentown counts as the number 10 worst location in Pennsylvania. This city is poor. The lowest point is the Badwater Basin, 281ft below sea level. By 1971, the Reading Railroad company was bankrupt. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends. Conversations are hushed. The unemployment rate sits at 13.8%, while 39.2% of locals eke out a living below the poverty line. Where is the highest elevation in the United States? They're what keeps me going and keeps me fighting to keep searching, as bad as the economy is. Public dollars are being spread all across the table. Continue with Recommended Cookies. The Suburbs Are Booming The city proper still has its struggles, but the immediate outskirts of Reading are alive and thriving, with low crime rates and some of the top school systems in the state. Steel and textile mills set up shop here and ushered in a prosperous era for the city. The Amish spread out across North America, including New York, the Midwest, as well as Ontario, Canada. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. And in the end, Mckeesport ranks as the worst city to live in Pennsylvania for 2021. The message is: Work hard and opportunity will follow. Still, juggling four kids, school, and full-time work is "really tough," she says. So we're seeing a fair number of retirees. Becoming nationally known as the poorest city in the country left Reading with an even worse reputation. Worst Places To Live In Pennsylvania For 2021 - RoadSnacks According to the. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. You want your job, or you want your family?" High-skilled employees are more likely to gravitate to big tech hubsnot small-town Pennsylvania. At one point it was the poorest city in the nation. Homes are the 6th cheapest in the entire state where you can get a place for about $48,000, although in some of these streets, you could offer $4,000 and be taken seriously. Cartech is basically saying, how can you get us kids to pass our math and science assessment exam? It might be the worst city in all of northeastern PA. Now, it's the highest. He said, I think its going to be very special. Half-eaten plates of spaghetti are scattered across the kitchen table. But as with many low-income families, transportation for Boggs is an issue. Credit: Kainaz Amaria and Pam Fessler/NPR. Like, my ninth and 10th grade year, I had good grades. Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country. That includes the gorgeous mountain views. Tracy Boggs knows that all too well. Thats what the residents of Reading, Pennsylvaniathe nations poorest citywould like to know. i guess not if you have a criminal record arm length but yet these people manage to buy drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. It has been steadily climbing since it ranked 23rd in 2000. Bonnie Spayd directs a high-tech training program at Reading Area Community College, its goal, to tailor learning to the needs of local companies, even ones you might not think of as high-tech, like Hershey's. Virginia Beach, with a population of close to . Reading is. Chester is right along the Delaware river, south of Philly. From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. What characteristics allow plants to survive in the desert? Jeffrey Brown reports from Reading, Pa., as part of our American Graduate series. Next, we turn to our series on the high school dropout problem. The streets is messed up. Population: 5,304Rank Last Year: 15 (Up 6)Median Home Value: $114,200Unemployment Rate: 12.8%More on Lehighton: Data|Photos. A worker dismantles a mattress at a recycling facility in Oakland, Calif. To enjoy them, its a short drive to Beltzville State Park. So, fortunately, as a charter school, we have that flexibility to work with employers to look at ways that we could integrate our curriculum with their needs as it relates to performance and skills. A 20-minute drive will take you to the city center. So what does that make you feel about your own future? THOMAS MCMAHON: Thank you. Reading, Pennsylvania, Leads Nation's Cities in Poverty Rate - AllGov To survive, she relies on a safety net of support. North Las Vegas, Nevada Change in per capita income: -$150 Of course we always can. What percentage of Reading PA is Hispanic? It's time for moms of America to unite, activate and have their voices heard! Its hard to imagine getting lucky in Reading these days. I have been to Youngstown, Flint, East St. Louis, Camden, and Detroit. Like, walking to school, they see different some of their friends that don't go to school and get caught up in some of the stuff that is going on, on the streets. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Last year the company made $42 million. The richest city in America? Chester, PA needs a big hug right now. And we do want you to advance and go on to further education. Where are the lower elevations of Pennsylvania located? But then the family van, with everyone inside, broke down in front of the bank. Reading, Pa. was recently named the poorest city in America, according to recent census figures. Lori Lebo, 37, has had a string of setbacks. Its funding model is inspiring other nonprofits to start salvaging junk to support services for the poor. Today, though, Reading is a different sort of symbol, as a new census reckoning makes it the poorest city in the nation. In the following decades, Reading would lose nearly half its population as factories moved away and demand for coal subsided. She's been working in recent months at a part-time job, cleaning a beauty supply store at the mall to make ends meet. And Mikaela's father has been in and out of jail, most recently for breaking Lebo's nose, and then for violating parole. WCAU's Stacey Stauffer reports. Everything is messed up. It's another day or in this case night at a center where parents can bring their children at any hour of the day or night. I sort of knew it was coming. Its pilot program for low-income families is proving to be a promising new approach to an old problem. Flint, Mich. and Bloomington, Ind. July 10, 2012 Tens of millions of Americans are still struggling, despite the slow economic recovery. Is it all good in the Keystone State? Pennsylvania is also home to the poorest major city in America, when measured by the share of population living in poverty: 41 percent of Readings residents are poor. A rough economy weighs on the 6,619 residents, with a 14.6% unemployment rate and a median income of $37,282. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. you have 20 year old men and women getting disability checks for depression and anxiety. One city\\'s struggle to regain its economic footing is also tied to significant problems in its schools. Detroit has the highest rate of people living below the poverty line out of all U.S. cities with [+] populations of at least 100,000. Yvonne Stroman, president of the Reading School Board, says the system has many challenges, but one of the biggest is meeting the needs of Latino students. Dont get it confused with McKees ROCKS, another terrible place outside of Pittsburgh which gets an honorable mention as a place to avoid moving to. Relative to Pennsylvania, Reading has a crime rate that is higher than 93% of the states cities and towns of all sizes. The rise of the Internet has made many businesses geographic location almost irrelevant, except when it comes to attracting talent. "[My] motivation is probably the kids and setting a good example for them so they can never say 'My Mom didn't do it, so why should I do it?' An astounding 66 percent of them in Reading live below the poverty line, less than $19,000 for a family of three. Editors Note: This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Meaning, you have to be joking, right? Meanwhile, the crime rate hovers about 160% above the national average. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. The Poorest Cities in the US - WorldAtlas These high school students and their fellow citizens in Reading, Pa., may have needed a reminder of the city's mayoral election recently, but the critical issues were clear. He says it laid the foundation for the work his employees would do for years to come, helping other businesses streamline their operations with computers. This could be like a real (INAUDIBLE) city, but it's not. Most dangerous place in Reading Trafford Road 100. Visiting the sixth poorest city in the USReading, PA You have got to move out of Reading to get a future. How tall is the highest peak in Pennsylvania? By its end, in 2008, it's on its way to claiming the title. For instance, residents can head to Bartram Park for a pleasant hike. "Let's go. With a poverty rate of 41.3 percent, Reading has been labeled the nation's poorest city with a population of 65,000 or more. Shyanne (left) holds 1-year-old Makai, as Stepp checks to see if all of Shyanne's homework has been completed. Located a half hour southeast of Pittsburgh, Clairton does have some good points. Yes, I think it's very well known that education is one of the key predictors of a person not falling into poverty. All rights reserved. Pennsylvania is also home to the poorest major city in America, when measured by the share of population living in poverty: 41 percent of Reading's residents are poor. Back in 1978, Weidenhammer was working as an information-technology consultant and wanted to start his own company, but didnt have the capital. What? Reading's concentrated poverty rate is the highest in Pennsylvania These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. 25 Poorest Cities In The US That Are Getting Poorer - Yahoo Finance
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