These Are The Neediest Cities In Texas In 2024

We live in tough economic times. But some places have it worse than others. 

Even during the best of times, poverty is an issue. It’s a problem public officials will always have to address.

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WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe points out that there’s more to being “needy” than just the lack of physical goods like food, shelter, and healthcare. There are less obvious issues that need to be considered: 

Cities also need to address problems like school dropout rates, lack of access to quality internet, overcrowding in housing units, poor mental health and more.

With that in mind, researchers with WalletHub crunched the numbers to determine which cities are the neediest in the United States. They compared over 180 cities, using factors such as child poverty, uninsured rates, food insecurity, and more to reach their conclusions. 

Ultimately, three Texas cities were ranked among the ten neediest in the country. 

Brownsville was determined to be the neediest city in Texas, ranked the second neediest city in the country. The city’s education issues were the biggest contributing factor to its ranking. 32% of adults over the age of 25 never graduated high school. 

Also making the list of the ten neediest cities was Laredo at Number 5, and Corpus Christi at Number 7. 

Top 10 Neediest Cities in the United States 

1. Detroit, MI 
2. Brownsville, TX 
3. Gulfport, MS 
4. Cleveland, OH 
5. Laredo, TX 
6. Jackson, MS 
7. Corpus Christi, TX 
8. Little Rock, AR 
9. Augusta, GA 
10. Fresno, CA 

Get the full results of the study and the methodology used at this location.