The poorest county in each state

Most are rural, many are tiny, and a few are huge and urban. The median household income for these 50 counties also varies widely.

By Kali Geldis, MainStreet

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freeamerican252
May 23, 2012 6:02PM
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can't you set up stories like this so we can go directly to the state we want? instead of all of them.
Thequietman
May 24, 2012 1:20PM
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 "lets find someone to blame"   "it's obama's doing!"     "no it's bush he left this mess! " You are all a bunch of children. It's my fault and yours. if we all worked together as a nation the economy would be on the up and up. Yet all i see riseing in this ONCE great country is general stupidity and lack of personal accountablity. you don't wanna live in a poor area then do something about it, move, try to bring new bissness into the area, clean up your neighborhoods and take steps to raise property values. Maybe stop shopping at wal-mart and target who by the way import almost ALL of there stock form china, or mabye talk to your congressman about steps you can take to keep jobs HERE. Getting to the point thou obama nor bush had ever made great decisions you cannot hold ONE MAN responsable for the actions and responablities of 450 million peoople it's not obamas country folks it's ours!
bpage55
May 24, 2012 9:43AM
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Give me a break, We say that that all these people are poor but they are better off than the majority of the working class,  Most get free medical care, up to a 12,000 dollar a year entitlement, free food entitlemnets value up to $7200 a year, free or reduced housing cost, again up to a $6000 a year entitlement, and let's not forget the earned income credit, I have seen some people get between $8000 and $12000 more than they paid in.  With all these entitlements they can afford the 60 inch flat screen tv, the xbox, the ds2s, smart phones, and Lincolns and Cadilacs with the 26 inch rims.  Let's help those who help themselves and live from pay check to pay check. the one who believes in an honest days pay for an honest days work.  For those who believe that they are entitled to sit on their lazy but and enjoy all the goodies in life and get a job and earn them.  Let's help the elderly and disabled, every one else get a job, even if it's only $7.50 an hour
Really480
May 23, 2012 11:37PM
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Why doesn't the U.S. Government pretend and treat all U.S.states like Haiti, Vietnam, North Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. by sending in billions of dollars worth of food, assistance, resources, etc. This might help the situation a bit ?  :o)
Alex583
May 24, 2012 9:11AM
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I guess is time for USA to stop helping other countries and support its own people first.
Jim S (cleaingug)
May 24, 2012 3:42PM
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I guess I am poor, and didn't know it.   My income is about 35,000.00yr and I drive a decent (but older) car, eat out lunch twice a week, and have a nice dinner out once a month.  Of course, the car is not a gas eating SUV, and my home is a nice condo, on a hill, with a nice view, not 5000sq ft and a bunch of bedrooms and bathroom I don't need.   I even take two nice trips each year.    But my clothes of name brands, they are store brands, and been told how great I dress btw.  I have a nice TV, but not a monster, and all this the car, condo, TV, trips are paid for.   SO  for those with 35000 and 40000 income, I can't feel too sorry for you.
Oceans11
May 23, 2012 6:16PM
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MSN stirring up hate, doom & gloom. They just had this exact story about 3 weeks ago & of course it turned political & racist all at the same time. It's just a way for them to get more "hits' to boost whatever they need to boost on the internet. I swear jounalism sucks now a days.
Walks-In-Storms
May 23, 2012 6:56PM
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Let me tell you what I am "sick and tired of":  the forty to fifty percent of the public that doesn't pay a @#$%&! dime in taxes, pissing and moaning about "bailouts" the rich - most of whom are in reality simply hard-workers who have earned every penny of what they have (I was one of those until IRS and liberal government took it all in order to give it to that forty or fifty percent) - are supposed to be getting. 

 

Stop believing the demagogues and myth-slingers (Al Sharpton, Lawrence O'Donnell, Ed Schultz, Chris Mathews, RAchel Maddow, and company), learn a little (damned little is required, you just have to want to know the painful truth) math, and do a little honest thinking. It is simple arithmetic, for instance, that if all that "one percent" we keep hearing about were taxed everything they earn (or have, even), it wouldn't pay the national debt - and it sure as hell wouldn't make any of the "working stiffs" (to say nothing of the poor) any better off. 

 

The problem is with the size of government - meaning the military industrial complex corporations - government that grows and grows because the people who don't pay any taxes or do a damned thing that benefits anyone but themselves keep asking for more - more government and more government handouts.  DO SOME ARITHMETIC,  and a little thinking.

aej1144
May 24, 2012 7:38AM
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Stop Stop Please Stop  It does not matter which party is in office. 

The system is rigged against you.... Almost every person holding Public office on the Federal Level and State have become millionaires while in office.  How can that be since it is supposed to be a Public Service? 
Every stinking one of them are immoral bastards.  And they are all sucking on the Government tit while calling for the end to welfare. I dont' see them giving up any of their benefits.  If you are wasting your time voting for or against these idiots, your nuts.


Buckieboy
May 24, 2012 9:17AM
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Here is something to think about, I lived in Pa, most of my Life before moving to NC.

In PA if you own Property you have to pay SCHOOL TAXES. There are people who are in their 80 and 90 and their House are not worth $40,000. and are still paying school taxes even though they haven't had any children in School for at least 50 years. And their Taxes are about $2000 a Year if not more. AND than there are the ones on Welfare and have many children in the School System and pay NOT A PENNY into School Taxes. You can't tax the RICH because there aren't many to be taxed.

Welfare, FREE FOOD, FREE HOUSING,FREE MEDICAL, FREE UTILITIES, FREE EDUCATION ( When they do go to School)

Something wrong with this Picture.

By the way I AM HOPING FOR A CHANGE.

BigBob123456
May 23, 2012 8:19PM
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MSN, Please change your slideshow so i can jump to the state I want. (I live in Washington) I don't really care about Mississippi's county I want to know Washington's poorest county.

dogriver101
May 24, 2012 9:14AM
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Educated HAHA American- You must be a liberal because you're talking out your butt. My siblings and I are products of a middle class family.  Neither of my parents went to college. They worked hard to put us through private school.  We ALL came out of college with huge student loans and are still paying them back. We helped eachother and helpled ourselves instead of asking for a handout.  That's the great thing about this country.  There is money to be made if you work hard and help YOURSELF.
kaejaeo
May 24, 2012 1:52PM
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It's time to blame ourselves. We are the ones letting the Chinese do our work and buying their inexpensive products so they will own us some day. They couldn't do it with wars, now we are helping them achieve it
Adelson Thompson
May 24, 2012 7:36AM
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SINCE THE EVERY POLITICAN SAY WE ARE IN A ECONOMIC DOWNFALL WHY DON,T THEY TAKE A PAY CUT UNTIL WE GET OUT OF THIS MESS NEW SLOGAN FOR WASHINGTON TAKE A PAYCUT YOU BASTARDS.I BET THEY WANT.ROBBERS.
silvertoungue
May 24, 2012 10:27AM
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America is just about finished because of stupidity and buying almoat everthing from China.....Lets dump most everyone in Congress...
So-it-is
May 24, 2012 9:27AM
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It amazes me how our government can provide FREE services and education to people who aren't American citizens. They spend billions on nonsense. These politicians will say anything for a vote and toss aside any true values. Obama has been a waste of our time. He promised change which has only resulted in negative change. He hangs his hat on killing Bin Laden. What did that do for the poverty stricken people?  What change came about from that? If he spent more time focusing on running this country as opposed to being on talk shows and T.V. shows, we might get something out of our investment in him. Stop letting illegals into this country! Invest in this country and it's people instead of taking our money to other countries.  The bottom line..this country is screwed up because of our government. I wish someone really had the balls to change things!
dogriver101
May 24, 2012 8:43AM
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I grew up near the poorest county  in Alabama and the picture this article paints is far from reality. The reality is that Wilcox county is representative of much of the rural South, in that there are 2 very distinct classes.  Throughout the Blackbelt (named for the fertile soil in middle LA, MS, AL and GA), there is a class of very poor black people that have lived there for generations.  They were brought there because that area is where the cotton was grown pre Civil War.  Since that time, these people have been given land, many have free homes,  public education with free food for their children, free college tuition, food stamps, WIC, free cell phones, and even Habitat for Humanity has started building them houses.  Now these aren't bad people we're talking about.. They're simply unmotivated because they've lived on Uncle Sam's Plantation for so many generations that they don't know and can't comprehend anything different. The highschool dropout rate amoung this group exceeds 40%.  What it doesn't show here is that when you look outside the "entitlement class" there are families in the area that own businesses, large old plantation homes, and thousands of acres of land.  All of their children attend private school and probably have an 80% graduation rate from college. I'm a product of this enviroment and I'm a Chemical Engineer, my brother is an attorney, and my sister is a writer for a magazine.  Basically, what I'm saying is that many people are poor because they choose to be poor and the liberal media likes to paint a sad picture for us, so we'll all feel sorry for them. They don't want our pity. They want us to keep working and paying in to Uncle Sam's Plantation so they can continue to live the life they have. It's been this way for the last 50 years and will continue to get worse until we END entitlement programs.
aej1144
May 24, 2012 7:43AM
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And another thing that really pisses me off.   Stop saying your for Freedom when every time I read the paper another one of my civil liberties is being raped.

For those of you out there that are so afraid of the Boogeyman you will give up your rights as American Citizens, stay in your house and stop giving away my rights with your irrational fear.

Mark Fegan
May 23, 2012 9:53PM
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This Presidents policies are destroying America and he wants people more dependant on government to help get himself re-elected. The more promises of handouts translates into more votes. He frequently talks of the sacrifices everyone needs to make well I am still waiting to see when he and Michelle will take the same pledge. This is the most traveled First Family in History all at our expense. Look up the facts.
slugman1165
May 24, 2012 8:28AM
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Hey avatar plenty of democrats will be sitting with those republicans at a restaurant. Your dreamin if you think they are gonna share their money with you. Plenty of poor republicans too, we just work and dont put out our hand for welfare.
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