The Neediest Cities in America in 2020

WalletHub takes an in-depth look at 2020’s Neediest Cities

Two California cites are among the nation’s neediest cities for 2020. Hunger, poverty and homelessness affect every nation — even the richest and most powerful.

According to Feeding America, food insecurity plagues every U.S. county, with 35 million individuals lacking access to adequate food even before the COVID-19 pandemic. That number could grow to more than 50 million due to the pandemic, though.

With the giving season reminding us to be selfless and the COVID-19 pandemic threatening to bring the number of Americans without adequate food to 50 million, the personal-finance website WalletHub followed up on its report on the Most Charitable States for 2021 with an in-depth look at 2020’s Neediest Cities.

Hoping to inspire goodwill toward the less fortunate, WalletHub compared more than 180 U.S. cities across 28 key metrics to determine where Americans are most economically disadvantaged. The data set includes factors like the child poverty rate, food-insecurity rate and uninsured rate.

Neediest Cities
1. Detroit, MI
2. Brownsville, TX
3. Cleveland, OH
4. Memphis, TN
5. Laredo, TX
6. Birmingham, AL
7. Fresno, CA
8. Los Angeles, CA
9. New Orleans, LA
10. Philadelphia, PA
11. Augusta, GA
12. St. Louis, MO
13. Miami, FL
14. Baltimore, MD
15. Newark, NJ
16. Indianapolis, IN
17. Las Cruces, NM
18. Jackson, MS
19. Gulfport, MS
20. Hialeah, FL

Key Stats

Fremont, California, has the lowest child poverty rate, 3.41 percent, which is 15.3 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 52.23 percent.
Pearl City, Hawaii, has the lowest adult poverty rate, 4.16 percent, which is 7.5 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 31.16 percent.
Overland Park, Kansas, has the fewest homeless persons (per 1,000 residents), 0.32, which is 50.6 times fewer than in Fresno, California, the city with the most at 16.18.
Fargo, North Dakota and Bismarck, North Dakota, have the lowest unemployment rate, 3.00 percent, which is 6.9 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 20.60 percent.
Pearl City, Hawaii, has the lowest share of uninsured residents, 2.30 percent, which is 13.6 times lower than in Brownsville, Texas, the city with the highest at 31.20 percent.