The 10 Poorest Suburbs in America Today vs. 10 Years Ago
Here's a sobering economic reality: if you lived in one of America's poorest suburbs a decade ago, there's a 50% chance you still do. Some places have engineered impressive turnarounds, pulling their residents out of poverty with real wage growth. Others? They're stuck. Despite a decade of economic shifts, they've watched from the sidelines while housing costs have soared and incomes have stalled.
We dug into where America's poorest suburbs were in 2014 versus where they are today — and the results are more about economic friction than mobility. Some cities managed genuine escapes from the bottom 10. Most of the rest are still waiting.
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Key Findings
Half the list didn't change. Five cities in the bottom 10 in terms of income in 2014 remained there in 2024, suggesting long-term economic trends rather than one-time dips.
East St. Louis had the biggest income jump of any repeat suburb. The city’s residents enjoyed an 81% gain in average income, rising from $28,670 to $51,857. That’s about 50% more than the next-closest gain.
Two Pennsylvania suburbs made the 2026 list: McKeesport and Sharon are two former steel and manufacturing hubs located outside Pittsburgh and Youngstown.
Opa-locka, Florida's home values soared 249% in a decade, from $134,550 to $469,831. However, the city’s income barely moved. That resulted in one of the widest income-to-housing-cost gaps in the country.
Isla Vista, California had the highest home value of any suburb on either list. The city is a bit of an outlier, as home values were over $1 million in both 2016 and 2026 despite ranking among the poorest by income a decade ago. This is likely due to the high student population from nearby UC Santa Barbara. Notably, the city is no longer in the dataset at all in 2026, likely because it fell below the study's 5,000-household minimum.
The 10 Poorest Suburbs 10 Years Ago
1. East St. Louis, Illinois (St. Louis, MO-IL)
Income: $28,670
Home Value: $33,741
2. East Cleveland, Ohio (Cleveland-Elyria, OH)
Income: $28,763
Home Value: $40,125
3. Prichard, Alabama (Mobile, AL)
Income: $32,201
Home Value: $50,502
4. Isla Vista, California (Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA)
Income: $32,430
Home Value: $1,093,661
5. Hamtramck, Michigan (Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI)
Income: $34,534
Home Value: $46,889
6. Harvey, Illinois (Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI)
Income: $35,814
Home Value: $30,901
7. Jennings, Missouri (St. Louis, MO-IL)
Income: $36,450
Home Value: $30,338
8. San Luis, Arizona (Yuma, AZ)
Income: $37,684
Home Value: $103,800
9. Pontiac, Michigan (Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI)
Income: $37,719
Home Value: $41,017
10. McKeesport, Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh, PA)
Income: $37,736
Home Value: $52,302
10 Poorest Suburbs Today
1. East Cleveland, Ohio (Cleveland-Elyria, OH)
Income: $43,887
Home Value: $72,741
2. Prichard, Alabama (Mobile, AL)
Income: $46,280
Home Value: $51,236
3. McKeesport, Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh, PA)
Income: $49,175
Home Value: $90,622
4. Jennings, Missouri (St. Louis, MO-IL)
Income: $50,098
Home Value: $71,164
5. Opa-locka, Florida (Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL)
Income: $50,683
Home Value: $469,831
6. East St. Louis, Illinois (St. Louis, MO-IL)
Income: $51,857
Home Value: $36,876
7. West Memphis, Arkansas (Memphis, TN-MS-AR)
Income: $53,415
Home Value: $122,941
8. San Benito, Texas (Brownsville-Harlingen, TX)
Income: $56,298
Home Value: $156,121
9. Sharon, Pennsylvania (Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA)
Income: $56,589
Home Value: $67,642
10. Bessemer, Alabama (Birmingham-Hoover, AL)
Income: $57,777
Home Value: $130,022
The Bottom Line
Income rankings shift over time, but it’s hard for a suburb to climb out of the bottom 10 without a significant economic change. Fully half of the names on the 2026 list were already there a decade ago. The other half climbed out through real income growth, with cities like Hamtramck, Harvey, San Luis and Pontiac all seeing jumps in household income of between 59% and 92% since 2014.
Methodology: For this study, average household income was sourced from the U.S. Census 2024 and 2014 American Community Survey for cities with at least 5,000 households. Home values were sourced from the Zillow Home Value Index for January 2026 and January 2016. To qualify, a city had to have at least 5,000 households and be part of a metropolitan statistical area, but not be a principal city, a city named in the metro's own title.
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
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