Detroit remains the neediest city in the U.S., largely because it has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 9.1%, according to a Dec. 15 analysis from personal finance website WalletHub.
The city also ranked No. 1 in WalletHub’s 2025 list.
To develop its “Neediest Cities in America (2026)” ranking, WalletHub compared 182 U.S. cities — including the 150 most populated and at least two of the most populated cities in each state — across 28 metrics tied to economic well-being and health and safety. Metrics included poverty, unemployment, homelessness, uninsured and food insecurity rates, as well as the share of adults who needed to see a physician in the past year but could not due to cost.
Here are the 10 neediest U.S. cities, per WalletHub:
1. Detroit
2. Brownsville, Texas
3. Shreveport, La.
4. Cleveland
5. Little Rock, Ark.
6. Gulfport, Miss.
7. Corpus Christi, Texas
8. Birmingham, Ala.
9. Laredo, Texas
10. New Orleans
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