Atlanta No. 2 largest population in need

Note that Georgia is rated very friendly to business.

Looking at the charts in the full report, the rankings are based on the percent of people in need in a city, not the total number, so it is a meaningful comparison of cities of different sizes.

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2015/12/28/atlanta-no-2-largest-population-in-need.html

Phil W. Hudson, Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Dec. 28, 2015

Two Georgia cities are among the top cities in the United States with the largest populations of economically-disadvantaged citizens.

According to a new report from WalletHub, Atlanta has the No. 2 largest population in need and Augusta, Ga., has the No. 7 largest population in need.

About 580,000 people — with children representing nearly half — were homeless on any given night in 2014, according to the consumer finance website citing data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. And according to the Junior Leagues of Georgia, the Peach State has one of the highest poverty rates for children in the United States.

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The top 10 cities with the largest population in need:

Detroit
Atlanta
Cleveland
Memphis, Tenn.
New Orleans
Jackson, Miss.
Augusta, Ga.
Brownsville, Texas
Birmingham, Ala.
Richmond, Va.

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https://wallethub.com/edu/cities-with-the-highest-and-lowest-population-in-need/8795/

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According to Feeding America, food insecurity plagues every U.S. county. In 2014, 48.1 million individuals lacked access to adequate food and 46.7 million lived in poverty. The National Low Income Housing Coalition classifies 10.3 million of those in poverty as “extremely low-income renter households” whose income is “at or below 30% of the area median income.” Three-quarters of that group have insufficient resources to cover other basic necessities —including utilities, food and health care — after allocating half of their income to housing.

As a result, those who cannot afford a roof over their heads must take to the streets or shelters. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, nearly 580,000 people — children comprising almost half — were homeless on any given night in 2014.

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With regard to our sample, please note that “city” refers to city proper and excludes surrounding metro areas.

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