NY cities among worst in the nation for poverty, homelessness: report

Some New York cities are among worst in the nation for poverty and homelessness, according to new study.

The WalletHub study looked at U.S. cities with the most economically at-risk residents. While none of the New York cities finished among the top 20 neediest, there were categories in which they ranked the worst.

Rochester’s 48.2% of children living in poverty was the worst among the 180 cities studied. New York City’s homelessness rate of 9.3 people per 1,000 was tied for the highest in the country with cities such as San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Both New York cities also had high unemployment rates, with New York City’s 6.8% third-worst and Rochester’s 6.4% sixth-worst. Rochester also had the sixth-worst adult poverty rate at 25%.

Similarly, the report found Buffalo also suffered from high poverty rates. The western New York city came in fourth, with 42.3% of its children living in poverty. It also had the seventh-worst ranking for adult poverty at 24.2%.

It’s very possible the poverty rates in those cities and across the country could increase soon.

“The Child Tax Credit will come to an end within the next few months,” said Phil Coltoff, a senior fellow at the New York University Silver School of Social Work and the former CEO for the Children’s Aid Society of New York.

“The program was established as a pandemic stimulus and was meant to sunset. When it ends, in the view of most experts, child poverty will again reach or exceed its pre-pandemic levels within one year.”

Overall, New York City was the 32nd neediest city in America. Rochester finished 37th, while Buffalo ranked 64th.

Yonkers, a New York City suburb in Westchester County, finished 151st.

Other than poverty and homelessness rates, the study also looked at such factors as bankruptcy rates, foreclosure rates, average personal credit scores, health insurance access and crime rates.