Nearly one in three central cities had poverty rates of 20 percent or more, and even in cities with lower rates, poverty remains concentrated in selected urban neighborhoods. Serious population losses continue to plague about one in five central cities. Most of those cities losing population are small or mid-sized. Unemployment remains unacceptably high in about one in six central cities. Even in cities with low overall unemployment, pockets of high joblessness occur.
Stubborn poverty persists in one-third of our central cities.
Poverty rates of 20 percent or higher can be found in 170 central cities, most of which are small or mid-sized, in 34 States and the District of Columbia. In 30 cities, the poverty rate is estimated to be 30 percent or higher. Poor urban residents continue to face an affordable housing crisis and related problems of poverty. Moreover, households in poverty tend to be geographically concentrated in urban areas, a problem that especially affects the minority poor. Simultaneously, many suburbs, including newer ones, are straining under sprawling growth that creates traffic congestion, overcrowded schools, loss of open spaces, other sprawl-related problems, and a lack of affordable housing .