Poorest U.S. Cities

Cleveland experienced the "highest poverty rate among America's big cities last year, with nearly a third of its people in poverty, according to new figures released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau."

Among the five poorest U.S. cities: Newark, NJ; Detroit, MI; Frenso, CA; and Miami, FL.

The rankings come from the recently-released U.S. Census Bureau tabulations from the 2003 American Community Survey (ACS). The survey is the largest household survey in the United States (800,000 housing units per year during the test phase). Like the decennial census long form it is designed to replace, the ACS provides information on money income and poverty, as well as a range of other social and economic indicators. ACS data for 2003 are shown for 116 metropolitan areas, 233 counties and 68 cities, all with populations of 250,000 or more. Starting in 2006, the Census Bureau expects data will be available for all areas with populations of 65,000 or more. And by 2010, data will be available down to the census tract and block group levels.

A PowerPoint presentation on how to use the CPS and ACS data is available, as is streaming video and other materials from the Census news conference.

Thanks to Chris Steins