Poverty rate per state, Mississippi leads the pack...along with all the Southern States

Mississippi has highest poverty rate in nation

More than 22 percent of Mississippians lived in poverty last year, making the state the poorest in the nation. New Mexico trailed closely behind with a 20 percent poverty rate, according to updated U.S. Census figures.

New Hampshire, Maryland and Alaska had fewer than 10 percent of their populations living in poverty.

Overall, 15 percent of Americans were poor last year, the highest rate since 1993.

The poverty line is $22,314 pre-tax income for a family of four, not including non-cash benefits such as food stamps. The Census measure also doesn't take into account big differences in cost of living among states, or expenses such as child care.

news.yahoo.com...

That image is worth a thousand words...isn't it? Hmmmm

Why dont you just come out and say it..........?

reply to post by David9176


The worst poverty comes from red states, imagine that. I bet they have some of the highest tax rates as well.

This doesn't take into account the lower cost of living in the South. 22k goes a lot farther down here than it does in pretty much any other part of the country.

There's some states with about $9/hour minimum wages. 9 bucks an hour down here is not too bad a living. It's not great, but you can do pretty decently on that.

reply to post by AnIntellectualRedneck


That is if you can even find a job in a souther state.

I lived in both Louisiana and Mississippi, and took a job similar to one I had in Arizona. The rate of pay I got in Arizona was almost $17.00 per hour while the job in Louisiana was offered at minimum wage, and believe me I snapped it up simply because there were no other jobs to be had.

It is not much cheaper to live there, and a $9.00 hour job is hard to come by!