Poverty

Illinois now has one of the largest gaps between the rich and the poor in America.

There are a lot of ways to measure wealth. If you're looking purely at dollars and economies, Missouri is sadly again ranked among the poorest states in America for 2025, but there's some good news, too.

Wealth can be a subjective term. What is rich to one person might seem like a pittance to someone else. Do you actually know what Missouri's poverty level is? Do you know that you might be poor (by state standards) and not even know it?

I want to be clear that I love the people of Kentucky and I don't want anyone there to misunderstand what I'm about to share. But, the poorest county in Illinois based on new data really should just be a part of Kentucky. I'll explain why.

I think it goes without saying (but I will say it) that I'm not a fancy fellow. That's one of the reasons I am quite pleased to report that Missouri has been ranked as one of the least expensive states to live in based on science. Yay for cheap.

I think sometimes the internet forgets that real people live in the places they rank as the worst involving whatever. This is a great example. A new declaration of the worst county in Illinois is a sad example where real people live in poverty and it really should just be given to Kentucky.

If you have enough food to eat and a roof over your head, you are blessed. Many in Missouri do not have that assurance. There's one place in particular where the poverty rate is higher than anyplace else and it's a city where more than half of the people there suffer.

What is the worst place to live in Illinois? While there is something subjective about whether a town is good or bad, there’s also some science baked into a recent ranking that thinks it knows the best Illinois city to avoid. It is full of history though.

I will admit that I'm not much of a numbers person. Math was never my strong suit. But, sometimes numbers do tell a story and in the case of Missouri's poorest town, that is definitely true. Nearly half of the residents live in poverty. The data is stunning.