26 California Cities Rank As Neediest In The Nation
CALIFORNIA — Poverty and food insecurity lives in the United States, rain or shine — holiday season or not. Food insecurity plagues every U.S. country, with 38 million people lacking access to adequate food in 2020, Feeding America reported.
In the Golden State, 26 cities ranked as the neediest in the nation, according to a report conducted by WalletHub. The report compared more than 180 U.S. cities based on 28 key indicators of economic struggle, such as child poverty, food insecurity and uninsured rates.
Fresno, Los Angeles and San Francisco ranked among six cities with the highest homelessness rate in the nation.
Source: WalletHub
"As we continue to deal with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, it's important to both help our existing impoverished population and make sure we minimize the number of new people who fall into poverty," WalletHub wrote in its report.
The ranked cities were determined based on two key dimensions, WalletHub said: "Economic Well-Being" and "Health & Safety."
Natasha Pilkauskas, an associate professor at the University of Michigan, said in the report that the impact of COVID-19 has left a lasting affect on families with low incomes. Pilkauskas said that this is in part due to the fact that low-income families generally worked jobs that could not be done remotely.
"In my research with families with low incomes, we see many folks are currently facing high rates of food insecurity and cannot pay all of their bills or rent," Pilkauskas said in the report. "Many of these families are also noting that basic expenses - like food or other essentials - are costing more to cover now than they did one year ago."
Several dozen California cities ranked out of 182 — is your city on the list?
#6: Los Angeles, CA.
#24: San Bernardino, CA.
#37: Oakland, CA.
#39: Stockton, CA.
#45: Long Beach, CA.
#57: San Francisco, CA.
#59: Bakersfield, CA.
#84: Sacramento, CA.
#89: Modesto, CA.
#92: Anaheim, CA.
#98: Santa Clarita, CA.
#110: Santa Ana, CA.
#115: Ontario, CA.
#123: Garden Grove, CA.
#130: Riverside, CA.
#131: Fontana, CA.
#132: Glendale, CA.
#134: Moreno Valley, CA.
#146: San Diego, CA.
#149: San Jose, CA.
#151: Oceanside, CA.
#158: Chula Vista, CA.
#165: Rancho Cucamonga, CA.
#172: Huntington Beach, CA.
#173: Irvine, CA.
#176: Fremont, CA.
This article originally appeared on the Across California Patch
