Bluegrass Times

McCreary was ranked the most impoverished county in Kentucky in a 24/7 Wall St. analysis of the least affluent regions in all 50 states.

McCreary recorded a median household income of $19,264 annually, based on 2017 U.S. Census Bureau data. That compares to a median household income of $46,535 per year for the entire state, according to the analysis.

McCreary’s poverty rate was pegged at 41 percent, and its October 2018 jobless rate was 5.9.

With the exception of Connecticut, each state’s poorest jurisdiction has a median annual household income under the national average of $57,652, according to 24/7 Wall St. And in most states, households in the poorest counties earned less than $40,000 annually, the analysis concluded.

The poorest counties in each state also had similar characteristics, including their tendency to be mostly rural, with decreasing populations and a lack of employment opportunities, according to the study.

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Poorest Counties by State

State	County / Jurisdiction	County Median Household Income	State Median Household Income	County Poverty Rate	October 2018 Jobless Rate
Alabama	Sumter County	$21,663	$46,472	36.0%	5.3%
Alaska	Kusilvak Census Area	$36,468	$76,114	39.1%	N/A
Arizona	Apache County	$32,360	$53,510	35.9%	9.4%
Arkansas	Phillips County	$26,652	$43,813	33.0%	5.1%
California	Lake County	$40,446	$67,169	22.8%	4.7%
Colorado	Otero County	$35,051	$65,458	22.9%	4.4%
Connecticut	Windham County	$62,553	$73,781	11.1%	4.1%
Delaware	Kent County	$57,647	$63,036	13.0%	3.8%
Florida	Madison County	$31,816	$50,883	31.9%	3.3%
Georgia	Telfair County	$28,044	$52,977	27.7%	5.8%
Hawaii	Hawaii County	$56,395	$74,923	17.4%	3.5%
Idaho	Madison County	$33,620	$50,985	31.8%	1.4%
Illinois	Alexander County	$31,014	$61,229	33.4%	6.5%
Indiana	Crawford County	$40,067	$52,182	17.8%	4.5%
Iowa	Appanoose County	$40,377	$56,570	17.1%	2.6%
Kansas	Crawford County	$38,017	$55,477	21.1%	3.5%
Kentucky	McCreary County	$19,264	$46,535	41.0%	5.9%
Louisiana	Claiborne Parish	$26,877	$46,710	29.9%	4.9%
Maine	Piscataquis County	$38,797	$53,024	18.7%	3.6%
Maryland	Allegany County	$42,771	$78,916	16.8%	4.8%
Massachusetts	Hampden County	$52,205	$74,167	17.2%	4.0%
Michigan	Lake County	$32,309	$52,668	25.0%	4.8%
Minnesota	Mahnomen County	$42,439	$65,699	22.7%	3.2%
Mississippi	Holmes County	$20,330	$42,009	46.5%	7.7%
Missouri	Shannon County	$31,202	$51,542	30.5%	3.9%
Montana	Blaine County	$35,506	$50,801	32.7%	3.6%
Nebraska	Sheridan County	$41,209	$56,675	15.8%	2.3%
Nevada	Nye County	$44,225	$55,434	17.3%	5.5%
New Hampshire	Coos County	$45,386	$71,305	13.3%	2.4%
New Jersey	Cumberland County	$50,000	$76,475	18.8%	5.1%
New Mexico	Quay County	$26,663	$46,718	21.6%	4.7%
New York	Bronx County	$36,593	$62,765	29.7%	5.3%
North Carolina	Bertie County	$31,287	$50,320	22.0%	4.2%
North Dakota	Rolette County	$36,170	$61,285	32.4%	6.2%
Ohio	Adams County	$36,320	$52,407	23.8%	6.5%
Oklahoma	Choctaw County	$30,298	$49,767	31.0%	4.2%
Oregon	Malheur County	$37,112	$56,119	25.2%	4.1%
Pennsylvania	Forest County	$37,106	$56,951	14.1%	5.0%
Rhode Island	Providence County	$52,530	$61,043	16.7%	3.4%
South Carolina	Allendale County	$23,331	$48,781	30.4%	5.6%
South Dakota	Mellette County	$31,165	$54,126	42.6%	4.1%
Tennessee	Scott County	$31,875	$48,708	26.2%	4.8%
Texas	Starr County	$27,133	$57,051	35.0%	7.9%
Utah	Wayne County	$42,444	$65,325	9.2%	2.9%
Vermont	Essex County	$38,767	$57,808	15.5%	2.3%
Virginia	Buchanan County	$30,828	$68,766	26.5%	5.1%
Washington	Pacific County	$39,895	$66,174	18.6%	6.1%
West Virginia	McDowell County	$25,595	$44,061	34.9%	8.6%
Wisconsin	Menominee County	$38,080	$56,759	35.8%	4.4%
Wyoming	Albany County	$45,816	$60,938	23.0%	2.9%

Source: 24/7 Wall St.