Fresno’s extreme poverty puts the city in a bad spot on a national list | The Fresno Bee

Fresno ranks No. 2 in the nation for cities with the highest rates of extreme poverty, a new study shows.

The research by Wall St. 24/7, published this week in USA Today, used census data to rank 20 cities throughout the U.S. by growth rate of extreme poverty growth from 2010 to 2016.

The city to beat out Fresno for the No. 1 spot is just a short drive down Highway 99 — Bakersfield.

Poor neighborhoods are those where at least 40 percent of four-person families earn an annual net income of less than $25,100, according to federal standards.

The share of Fresno’s residents living in high poverty increased 12.8 percent from 2010 to 2016, the study shows. In that time, the number of poor neighborhoods increased by 19, or 66 percent. The metro area’s 42.2 percent concentrated poverty rate is the highest of any region in the country. Concentrated poverty is the number of families below the poverty line living in poor neighborhoods.

The study also linked Fresno’s poverty to its high crime rate and disparities in education. The study noted that in 2016, there were 613 violent crimes for every 100,000 metro-area residents in Fresno, which is well above the U.S. rate for violent crime.

In those high poverty neighborhoods, 6.7 percent of adults have a bachelor’s degree, compared to 23.3 percent of adults who live in other areas.