Clifton, Colorado
In this relaxing Colorado town, more than a quarter of the population lives in poverty, and the rate of unemployment seems to be more than twice as high as the national average. It has a median annual household income of $43,452 dollars. Some locals believe that drug abuse is becoming an increasingly serious problem in the area. The surrounding Mesa County has a lower rate of opioid deaths than the rest of the state — but in 2019, The Daily Sentinel reported a spike in drug-related deaths as doctors decided to stop prescribing as many opioids and users did turn to street drugs such as heroin instead, according to the newspaper. Criminal activity is also becoming a source of concern. This was significantly higher than the number of violent crimes reported in Weld County in 2019, which has more than twice the population of Mesa County.
Clifton, Colorado
Spanish Lake, Missouri
A documentary on the area’s decline describes how Spanish Lake went from being a “beautiful suburbia” to becoming an “apocalyptic ghost town” where jobs were scarce, homes were foreclosed, educational opportunities were diminished, and public transportation was “slower than a snail’s pace,” according to the St. Louis Beacon. In the 1990s, middle-class families packed up their belongings and left in droves, causing a sudden collapse of the local economy. The effects of deindustrialization and the Great Recession were particularly detrimental. The median household income in Spanish Lake is currently a little more than $37,000 per year. In fact, incomes and populations in St. Louis County as a whole have declined over the past decade.. Approximately 440,000 people that earn more than $10.64 billion decided to move into St. Louis County, according to IRS data, but 492,000 people earning $14.05 billion left the same county.
Spanish Lake, Missouri