This Ohio City Has the Highest Poverty Rate in the State

For years, people in Ohio have been worried about how many kids and families are struggling financially in the cities. The U.S. Census Bureau says that in three Ohio cities, more than half of the kids live in poverty, and in 34 other cities, at least one-third of kids are in the same boat.

Some cities have it especially tough. Warren, Youngstown, Portsmouth, and East Cleveland have the highest rates of kids living in poverty, with more than 45% in each place. Cleveland, in particular, has it really rough. It’s got the highest child poverty rate of any big city in the U.S. with over 300,000 people.

It’s not just kids feeling the pinch. The overall poverty rates are sky-high in college towns like Oxford and Athens, as well as in East Cleveland. College towns tend to have more poverty because the way they figure out poverty counts all the money coming into a household, even if it’s mostly from students.

In Ohio, the poverty rates for both kids and everyone else are a bit higher than the national average. While Mississippi has the highest rate of kids in poverty, New Hampshire has the lowest.

Cleveland also has a big problem with poverty overall. It’s second only to Detroit among big cities in the U.S.

These numbers show that lots of communities in Ohio are still struggling with money, and they remind us that we need to do more to help people out of poverty and give them better chances at making a living.