Flint and Detroit Are Two of the Poorest Cities in America

What happens when you build two cities on industry and then subtract that industry? Read the title again for the answer.

Flint and Detroit have teamed up again for another group apparance on a "worst of" list. Last time it was cities most at risk of identity theft and this time, it's a much simpler one to explain -- poorest cities. No surprises there.

According to the data from the latest US census, Flint and Detroit are both listed as the poorest cities. The data is a bit complicated to analyze, but WEYI says that 39.3% of Detroit's people live below the poverty line, making them the poorest large city in America. We're not sure what their "large city" criteria is, but Flint was not included in that group.

MLive says Flint ranked just as the second poorest city of its size in America with 40.1% of people living below the poverty line, falling just behind (or above) Youngstown, Ohio's 40.7%. Flint's median income for 2009-2013 was $24,834/yr, which is about half of our state's medium income of $48,411/yr.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says that the amount of people on food stamp assistance in Genesee County has grown by roughly a third over the last decade, moving from 87,847 people in 2005 to 130,095 today. Times is tough.

Like a scorned ex-lover, Flint continues their downward spiral in the wake of being dumped by big auto while their CEOs are raking in record profits. Somebody should've thought about that when they needed their asses saved a few years back.