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How common is Third World type poverty in these regions ? I saw that some people wrote that there are people in Upstate NY who lack electricity and sewer systems ( for example ) , so how common is that type of poverty in these regions ?
Also why are these underrated poor regions poor ?
Lack of employers who pay anything above minimum wage.
That's the biggest reason.
Second to that is lack of services.
When the county seat only has a population of about 5k, there is not much there. Any other towns pale in comparison population wise.
A whole county without a public transit system, more derelict farms than actual houses.
Only one major employer who pays above minimum wage, only for those with engineering degrees. They recently let go higher wage cleaning and internal food service crews, allowing them " to apply to the new subcontractor for those services" --- at HALF their previous wages, how considerate that they could keep a semblance of their jobs at the same facility---at half their wages, in other words reduced from a decent living wage to a minimum wage....for the same work...all in the company chasing the bottom line...a defense contractor no less, I'm sure the government still gets charged!
Small businesses and Small retail or fast food chains, and not many of them, is why.
Yeah poorer zones are everywhere.
Some poorer than others.
Everybody knows about Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta , however I'd wager there are plenty of other poor regions within the United States that are lesser known .
So which regions are those ? Have they been poor for long or have they recently become poor ?
Historically, one of the poorest region's in the country is along the Texas-Mexico border. It covers a big area and some fairly large cities and one of the fastest growing regions in the nation.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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Originally Posted by ckhthankgod
Actually, Bronx County is the poorest County in NY State in terms of poverty rate, but it also has its middle class(lower to upper) areas as well. Tioga County actually has one of the lowest poverty rates in the state.
In Broome County, you also have what is left of IBM in Endicott, BAE Systems also in Endicott, Visions FCU HQ's in Endicott, i3 electronics in Endicott, NYSEG in Vestal, Maines in Conklin and Colombian Financial Group in Binghamton, with some possibly working at the Raymond Corporation in Greene in adjacent Chenango County to the NE or Lockheed Martin in Owego in Tioga County.
Tioga county is strange. Like Tompkins, a lot of the rural areas there do not fall in line with the statistics of "wealth".
A lot of NY state is hard to measure due to the immense wealth disparity in most counties. With people at the extreme ends of poor or rich the county medians are skewed and not a reliable way to measure the affluence of the area.
As an example, my home county (Schuyler) is generally in American poverty or dangling just above it, and pretty run down. However, there are many 100k+ a year people living here too, especially along the lake, who work out of Cornell or something similar. The median income is something around 65k a year, even though most people here are actually below 30k a year.
Tioga county is strange. Like Tompkins, a lot of the rural areas there do not fall in line with the statistics of "wealth".
A lot of NY state is hard to measure due to the immense wealth disparity in most counties. With people at the extreme ends of poor or rich the county medians are skewed and not a reliable way to measure the affluence of the area.
As an example, my home county (Schuyler) is generally in American poverty or dangling just above it, and pretty run down. However, there are many 100k+ a year people living here too, especially along the lake, who work out of Cornell or something similar. The median income is something around 65k a year, even though most people here are actually below 30k a year.
Actually, Bronx County is the poorest County in NY State in terms of poverty rate, but it also has its middle class(lower to upper) areas as well. Tioga County actually has one of the lowest poverty rates in the state.
I always used to hear that Sullivan County, where I spent a lot of time as a kid because my grandparents had a summer place there, was the poorest county in New York State outside of the city. These days a lot of yuppie types are buying second homes in Sullivan County, so I wonder if that's still the case. All I can tell you is that just over the course of my childhood and early adulthood, I saw Monticello go from a charming all-American town to a virtual wasteland.
Since I've moved to PA the state as a whole has been getting poorer with the main culprit being low pay for both white and blue collar workers. It's surprisingly poor here. The COL and taxes continue to rise but the pay scale doesn't. The minimum wage needs raised to at least $10-$15 an hour.
Poor is poorly defined. I know a person making $13 an hour in Mississippi with 5 acres of land, kids, a truck, living well; and a person making 75K a year struggling without a vehicle sharing an apartment in Fairfield Connecticut
I always used to hear that Sullivan County, where I spent a lot of time as a kid because my grandparents had a summer place there, was the poorest county in New York State outside of the city. These days a lot of yuppie types are buying second homes in Sullivan County, so I wonder if that's still the case. All I can tell you is that just over the course of my childhood and early adulthood, I saw Monticello go from a charming all-American town to a virtual wasteland.
It is in the top 10, but Tompkins County, which is where Ithaca is located is 3rd behind Kings County(aka Brooklyn). Keep in mind that the 3 colleges/universities in Tompkins County likely plays a big part in that ranking. Meaning, that off campus college students play a part in said rates, as they don't make much, if any money and are counted in terms of households/population.
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