Minot, North Dakota
Despite its nickname, North Dakota’s “Magic City” has lost some of its lusters as a result of high housing costs, which have become a problem throughout the state, according to the latest report. Approximately 17.5 percent of North Dakota homeowners with an active mortgage and ten percent of homeowners without an active mortgage, according to the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency, spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing-related expenses. While the median home price is moderately higher than the rest of the state, at $204,000, the median household income is significantly lower, at $66,000, than the rest of the state. Many residents have complained about the blistering cold winters, a lack of entertainment, and high property taxes, but the main reason for Minot’s inclusion on the list, according to 24/7 Wall St., is food insecurity. In the county, more than two-thirds of the population resides in urban areas at least one mile from a grocery store or in rural areas at least ten miles from one, according to the report.
Minot, North Dakota
Middletown, Ohio
Middletown, once a thriving manufacturing center owing to the presence of employer AK Steel, has been in a state of a slow and steady downward trend for several decades. Following hundreds of job cuts and a protracted contract dispute, the steelmaker was forced to lockout nearly 2,700 workers in 2006. Former Middletown city manager Doug Atkins claims that some neighborhoods in the city are 80 percent to 90 percent rented and that the majority of the properties in these neighborhoods are dilapidated and low in value when compared to surrounding communities. More than a quarter of the city’s population lives in poverty. The average household income is $40,347 per year.
Middletown, Ohio