Article Table Of Contents
Texas brings to mind images of Austin, beautiful landscapes, and some of the best people you'll find in the good ole US of A.
However, like all states, Texas has certain places that are going on hard times. These places have an above average percent of people that are living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
With all the talk about income inequality going on around the country, we thought it prudent to take a look at the places in each state that are struggling to make it even as the economy continues to improve. So we set our sites on bringing attention to the places in Texas that could use a helping hand.
To do so, we analyzed the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 353 places in Texas with more than 5,000 people.
Here are the ten poorest places in Texas for 2021:
Again, this isn't a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it's just a look at the facts.
What's the poorst city in Texas? According to the facts, Prairie View is the poorest place in Texas for 2021.
Rich people more your cup of tea? Feel free to check out the best places in Texas or the most dangerous.
For more on how we calculated the top ten, and for more information about these places, read on.
If you're looking for something more national, check out the poorest states in America or the poorest cities in America.
For more Texas reading, check out:
The 10 Poorest Cities In Texas For 2021
1. Prairie View
/10
Prairie View, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Texas thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 6,678 people averages the 3rd lowest median household income in Texas and the highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
2. Carrizo Springs
/10
The second poorest city in Texas is Carrizo Springs.
The city ranks as having the 5th highest incidence of poverty and 11th lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate 'only' ranks as the 4th highest in the Lone Star State.
3. Center
/10
Placing as the third poorest city, Center's median income ranks as the 20th lowest.
And that's a sign that there's a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 38.78716282732822% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Lone Star State.
4. Marlin
/10
Marlin ranks as the fourth poorest place in Texas.
The town ranks as having the lowest median household income and the 2nd highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there's still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
5. Commerce
/10
The fifth poorest city in Texas is Commerce.
The city ranks as having the 6th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 8th highest in Texas.
Still not the best news for Commerce.
6. Robstown
/10
Robstown ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Lone Star State.
It ranks as having the 4th highest incidence of poverty and the 2nd highest unemployment rate.
7. Raymondville
/10
Raymondville places as the seventh poorest city in Texas.
The city of over 11,021 ranks as having the 23rd highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
8. Rio Grande City
/10
Rio Grande City ranks as the eighth poorest city in Texas.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 5th highest in the state.
9. Alton
/10
Population: 16,976
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 2)
Median Income: $32,495 (14th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 13.0% (7th highest)
Poverty Rate: 32.0% (18th highest)
More on Alton: Data
Alton couldn't stay out of the top ten poorest places in Texas; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 14th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Alton ranks as having the 18th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Texas.
10. Hidalgo
/10
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Texas is Hidalgo.
The city of 13,884 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Lone Star State.
How We Determined The Poorest Places In Texas for 2021
The first thing that comes to most people's minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don't think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the "poorest places". So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2015-2019 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income adjusted for the cost of living
- Unemployment Rate
The "median household income adjusted for the cost of living" attempts to gauge how expensive it is to live in a place and how that impacts the quality of life. For example, a town might have fewer people living below the official poverty line, but the cost of living is so high they'd still feel poor.
The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for improvement in the city or town. If more people are employed, the brighter the future looks and vice versa.
After we collected the data for all 353 places with more than 5,000 people in Texas, we ranked each place from 1 to 353 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a "Poor Score" with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Prairie View, crowned the "Poorest Place In Texas For 2021". You can download the data here.
There You Have It - The Poorest Places In Texas For 2021
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Texas, we weren't sure what we'd encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Texas.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you're curious enough, here are the richest cities in Texas, according to data:
-
Richest: Terrell Hills
2nd Richest: Highland Park
3rd Richest: Celina
For more Texas reading, check out:
- Richest Cities In Texas
- Safest Places In Texas
- Worst Places To Live In Texas
- Most Expensive Places To Live In Texas
Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Texas
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prairie View | 6,678 |
| 2 | Carrizo Springs | 5,554 |
| 3 | Center | 5,250 |
| 4 | Marlin | 5,607 |
| 5 | Commerce | 9,293 |
| 6 | Robstown | 11,400 |
| 7 | Raymondville | 11,021 |
| 8 | Rio Grande City | 14,408 |
| 9 | Alton | 16,976 |
| 10 | Hidalgo | 13,884 |
| 11 | Roma | 11,397 |
| 12 | Nacogdoches | 33,200 |
| 13 | Palmview | 5,733 |
| 14 | Beeville | 12,912 |
| 15 | Diboll | 5,266 |
| 16 | Mercedes | 16,564 |
| 17 | San Benito | 24,371 |
| 18 | Hutchins | 5,718 |
| 19 | Sinton | 5,504 |
| 20 | Freeport | 12,147 |
| 21 | San Marcos | 63,220 |
| 22 | Hempstead | 7,691 |
| 23 | Cameron | 5,489 |
| 24 | Crystal City | 7,310 |
| 25 | Port Arthur | 55,109 |
| 26 | Kingsville | 25,605 |
| 27 | Brownfield | 9,525 |
| 28 | Eagle Pass | 29,348 |
| 29 | Mineral Wells | 15,096 |
| 30 | Jasper | 7,583 |
| 31 | Forest Hill | 12,994 |
| 32 | Mexia | 7,356 |
| 33 | Lacy-Lakeview | 6,633 |
| 34 | Elsa | 7,225 |
| 35 | Jacinto City | 10,667 |
| 36 | Gladewater | 5,991 |
| 37 | Donna | 16,409 |
| 38 | Harlingen | 65,129 |
| 39 | Athens | 12,664 |
| 40 | Brownsville | 182,271 |
| 41 | Rockdale | 5,531 |
| 42 | Everman | 6,255 |
| 43 | Lamesa | 9,221 |
| 44 | Anthony | 5,236 |
| 45 | San Juan | 36,744 |
| 46 | Texarkana | 36,688 |
| 47 | Gatesville | 12,377 |
| 48 | Jacksonville | 14,790 |
| 49 | Atlanta | 5,495 |
| 50 | Socorro | 33,778 |
| 51 | Gilmer | 5,105 |
| 52 | Wharton | 8,711 |
| 53 | Brookshire | 5,376 |
| 54 | Granite Shoals | 5,121 |
| 55 | Gainesville | 16,441 |
| 56 | Childress | 6,201 |
| 57 | Vernon | 10,509 |
| 58 | Alamo | 19,613 |
| 59 | Alice | 19,007 |
| 60 | La Feria | 7,267 |
| 61 | Marshall | 23,080 |
| 62 | Mission | 83,567 |
| 63 | Galena Park | 10,983 |
| 64 | Yoakum | 5,996 |
| 65 | Orange | 18,762 |
| 66 | Slaton | 5,960 |
| 67 | Edinburg | 95,847 |
| 68 | Pharr | 78,073 |
| 69 | South Houston | 17,587 |
| 70 | Progreso | 5,905 |
| 71 | Humble | 15,864 |
| 72 | Hillsboro | 8,342 |
| 73 | Breckenridge | 5,457 |
| 74 | Mcallen | 141,968 |
| 75 | Livingston | 5,115 |
| 76 | Borger | 12,698 |
| 77 | Terrell | 17,869 |
| 78 | Kaufman | 7,330 |
| 79 | Waco | 135,858 |
| 80 | Levelland | 13,596 |
| 81 | Big Spring | 28,041 |
| 82 | Gun Barrel City | 6,084 |
| 83 | Texas City | 48,569 |
| 84 | Bowie | 5,050 |
| 85 | Aransas Pass | 8,088 |
| 86 | Lufkin | 35,465 |
| 87 | Denison | 24,340 |
| 88 | Cleveland | 8,061 |
| 89 | Galveston | 50,241 |
| 90 | Paris | 24,807 |
| 91 | Willis | 6,566 |
| 92 | Hitchcock | 7,800 |
| 93 | Sweetwater | 10,626 |
| 94 | Sansom Park | 5,411 |
| 95 | Cuero | 8,297 |
| 96 | Los Fresnos | 7,738 |
| 97 | Killeen | 145,686 |
| 98 | El Paso | 679,813 |
| 99 | Pasadena | 153,350 |
| 100 | Bay City | 17,694 |
