Blue State Blues: And The Winner for Poorest Big City in America Is…
1st November 2026
Philadelphia has once again been named the poorest major city in the United States, reclaiming an unwanted title after briefly losing last year.
A whopping 20.4% of Philadelphia residents lived below the poverty line in 2025, according to newly released U.S. Census Bureau data, marking the city’s first increase in poverty since 2011.
The figures, first reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer, put Philadelphia ahead of Houston and New York City, which both recorded poverty rates of 17.7%.
The reversal comes after Philadelphia briefly surrendered its unwanted title to Houston in 2024, when its poverty rate dropped to 19.7%, its lowest level since at least 1979.
Houston, one of the Blue pustules on the rosy Red cheek of Texas. Even in Red states, metro areas are run by Blue morons.