Chip Lupo, The Neediest States in the U.S.

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/01/12

Chip Lupo is an experienced personal finance writer currently contributing to WalletHub. With a background in journalism from Elon University, he has worked across various sectors, including finance, sports, politics, and religion. Chip has expertise in SEO best practices, content creation, and editing and proficiency in Microsoft and Adobe applications. His career spans over two decades, during which he has held roles as a compliance analyst, wire editor, and night city editor. Chip’s passion for media and communications drives his commitment to high-quality content. Lupo talks about 2024’s neediest cities in the United States. WalletHub analyzed 182 cities using 28 key indicators of economic disadvantage, such as child poverty, unemployment, food insecurity, and health metrics. Cities like Detroit, Gulfport, and Brownsville rank poorly in economic well-being and health indicators. Faith-based nonprofits, like the Salvation Army, are critical in providing support. Lupo emphasizes significant gaps between cities, such as a 30-times difference in homelessness rates. Seasonal needs spike in winter and summer due to extreme weather. Solutions require local leadership and grassroots action to address these issues effectively.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Today, we are here again with Chip Lupo of WalletHub. We will be talking about 2024’s neediest cities in the United States. So, how do we define neediness in the United States?

Chip Lupo: Okay, Scott. We analyzed 182 U.S. cities—these are the largest cities by population—based on 28 key indicators of economic disadvantage. This includes everything from child poverty, food insecurity, and uninsured rates to other factors that help us understand where Americans need the most support.

Jacobsen: And when they’re looking for support, what are the main social supports? What are the main economic supports? What are the main religious or institutional supports? In other words, what are some concrete ways these needs are being met, with specific examples?

Lupo: It’s interesting you bring that up because there seems to be a trend where people are increasingly turning to faith-based institutions for support. In many urban and low-income areas—which we’ll discuss in more detail—there’s a perception that government policies have not provided sufficient help.

When we talk about economics specifically, we mean child poverty rates, adult poverty rates, unemployment rates, homelessness rates, bankruptcy rates, and foreclosure rates. So, people often look within their communities or turn to faith-based institutions for assistance. Initial government efforts may have been well-intentioned in many of these areas but have yet to catch up over time.

Jacobsen: And now, with overall religion in the United States declining—whether in terms of total numbers, attendance, or adherence to faith-based practices—are we still seeing an increasing reliance on these institutions? Or are they as impactful as they’ve always been regarding social provisions?

Lupo: They’re about as impactful as they’ve always been. However, we’re not necessarily talking about formal religious institutions like churches. We’re referring more to faith-based nonprofit groups—organizations like the Salvation Army.

These types of charitable organizations, which are faith-based to some extent, are relied upon more frequently now. Of course, because the demand for their services is so high, many of these groups are stretched thin. They depend heavily on donations and volunteer support to keep their operations running and to serve these communities.

Jacobsen: What do you notice about some of the neediest cities, like Detroit, Michigan, Gulfport, Mississippi, and Brownsville, Texas?

Lupo: These cities consistently rank poorly in two main areas: economic well-being and health and safety. We touched on economic well-being earlier—factors like poverty, unemployment, and foreclosure rates.

Regarding health and safety, we’re looking at indicators like the uninsured rate, the share of severely overcrowded homes, and the percentage of adults who needed to see a doctor but couldn’t afford to. Other indicators include depression rates, suicide rates, and crime rates.

The three cities you mentioned—Detroit, Gulfport, and Brownsville—consistently rank among the lowest in economic, health, and safety indicators. Their rankings in these areas place them among the neediest cities in the United States.

Jacobsen: What are you weighing more—economics or health and safety—for neediness?

Lupo: Those two are equal; they’re the two main dynamics. Now, within each, we have metrics that carry different weights. For example, with economic well-being, we assign triple weight to metrics such as child, adult, and homelessness rates. We give full weight to metrics such as unemployment and underemployment.

That’s key because, in many of these areas, people may have jobs, but those jobs are often several levels below their qualifications. For example, you may have a master’s degree in a specific field but can’t find work there. As a result, you take a lower-paying job or something far below what your qualifications merit.

We also assign full weight to high school dropout rate and median credit score indicators. Consumer bankruptcies receive half weight, while economic security also receives half weight.

In the health and safety dimension, uninsured rates and food insecurity rates get full weight. This is critical in what are now being called food deserts—areas where access to quality produce or supermarkets is severely limited. In many cases, crime in these areas is so rampant that supermarkets close or relocate because they can’t sustain business under those conditions.

We also assign full weight to indicators like the share of severely overcrowded homes and the share of adults who needed to see a doctor but couldn’t afford to.

But, to answer your question directly—on a scale of 100, economic well-being gets 60 points, and health and safety gets 40 points. So, it does tilt slightly more toward economics because it’s likely a more accurate gauge of neediness in these areas.

Jacobsen: And how are the worst-performing cities looking in terms of child and adult poverty rates?

Lupo: Let’s see. For child poverty rate:

• Detroit, Michigan ranks 2nd worst,
• Gulfport, Mississippi, is 8th from the bottom, and
• Brownsville, Texas, is 14th from the bottom.

For adult poverty rate:

• Detroit has the highest rate,
• Gulfport ranks 8th highest, and
• Brownsville is the 10th highest.

Detroit also has the highest underemployment rate.

Jacobsen: How long have you been conducting this particular neediness study?

Lupo: To my knowledge, I can recall that we’ve been doing it for at least 2 or 3 years, as far as. It may go back even further. I’d check with Diana on that one, but we’ve conducted this study as far back as 2020.

Jacobsen: And what about unemployment and uninsured rates? How do these factor into the degree to which some of these worst-performing cities are addressing the needs of their citizens?

Lupo: Okay. For unemployment:

• Detroit has the highest unemployment rate at almost 7.5%.
• Gulfport ranks 121st, which is relatively good out of 182 cities.
• Brownsville ranks 19th worst.

For underemployment:

• Detroit ranks 1st for underemployment, meaning it’s the worst.
• Gulfport performs better in this metric, and Brownsville has a very low underemployment rate.

Now, regarding Brownsville—being in the South Texas area, there’s a lot of agriculture and farming, so underemployment may not be as significant an issue there. People are likely employed in agricultural jobs that fit their immediate skills, even if they’re not highly specialized roles.

So, to recap, Detroit is the most concerning city with high unemployment and underemployment rates, while Brownsville and Gulfport show mixed results depending on the metric.

Jacobsen: Gulfport ranks 171st, and Brownsville ranks 181st. So, they’re not as bad in terms of underemployment as they are for unemployment in those areas. Now, let’s see what else we can look at here. When you’re looking at the highs and lows of neediness in the United States, are the gaps significant across the spectrum, or is there simply a rank order,, and the gaps are relatively close overall?

Lupo: The gaps are pretty sizable. Let’s look, for example, at the the child poverty rate. Cleveland, Ohio, has the highest child poverty rate, while Pearl City, Hawaii, has the lowest. That’s a 13-times difference. So, a child in Cleveland is 13 times worse off than one in Pearl City, Hawaii.

For adult poverty rate, Detroit has the highest rate, which is 6 times worse than in Pearl City, Hawaii.

When it comes to homelessness, the difference is even more dramatic. There’s a 30-times difference between Honolulu, Hawaii, which has the highest homelessness rate, and Overland Park, Kansas, which has the lowest.

Depending on the metric, we’re seeing some significant gaps between the cities performing the worst and those performing the best. This highlights the discrepancies in economic well-being, health, and safety across the country and raises the question of how we bridge those gaps.

Jacobsen: Some of your research focuses on actionable. If people want to reduce the neediness in their city, what policies or social programs seem reasonable to implement based on the data?

Lupo: It begins at the local level. Residents need to petition their local leaders or legislatures to revamp existing policies. If those leaders aren’t addressing the issues, residents need to vote them out and bring in new leadership to prioritize these challenges.

I don’t know if you’ve been following the situation in Chicago, but there’s been significant tension between citizens and city officials over illegal immigration. The city wants to raise taxes to fund services for an influx of immigrants, but residents have had enough. They’re confronting the mayor and assembly members, saying, “You need to look out for us first and not raise taxes to support people who are here illegally.”

We’re starting to see more backlash in impoverished, high-crime communities. Residents are stepping up, making their voices heard, and demanding action. Change has to start at the grassroots level—you can’t petition Washington for solutions until you’ve addressed issues at city hall. Any meaningful improvements in these communities must begin locally and work their way up.

Jacobsen: I have time for one more question. What should we ask here? Are there differences—these are annual studies—but are there seasons in which Americans overall are more needy than others, like the winter or summer?

Lupo: Well, based on the data, this time of year—the holiday season—tends to highlight neediness the most. It’s a season of giving and charity, which brings these issues to the forefront even more.

But in a place like Detroit, for example, where winters can be brutally cold, there’s a significant degree of homelessness, and the need for shelter, warmth, and clothing becomes far more urgent.

Similarly, during the peak of summer, during heat waves, people need air conditioning, access to hydration, and cooling centers to survive. So, yes, I would say that winter and summer—the two peak seasons—are when neediness seems to be the greatest.

Jacobsen: Well, Chip, thank you for your time today. I appreciate it, as always. 

Chip Lupo: Oh, absolutely! That was great.

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