Large U.S. Cities Ranked by Percentage of Persons Under 18 in Poverty, 1999 Source: 2000 Census of Population, Profile Sample Data, Poverty of Individuals for Whom Poverty Status Is Determined, Census Table DP-3. Profile of Selected Economic Characteristics. Calculations and ranking by Children's Defense Fund. Rankings are out of 245 cities with populations of 100,000 persons or more. (Note: Figures for persons under 18 for whom poverty status is determined differ slightly from published figures on "related children under 18") Persons Persons Persons Rank in Under 18 Under 18 Under 18 U.S.(1= State and City Total Poor Percent lowest) Alabama Birmingham 59,608 21,242 35.6 229 Huntsville 35,830 6,776 18.9 114 Mobile 51,904 16,379 31.6 209 Montgomery 51,286 13,313 26 178 Alaska Anchorage municipality 73,953 6,861 9.3 33 Arizona Chandler 51,786 4,194 8.1 26 Gilbert town 37,239 1,173 3.1 2 Glendale 64,280 10,194 15.9 89 Mesa 106,293 11,892 11.2 47 Peoria 30,205 1,840 6.1 12 Phoenix 372,887 80,232 21.5 144 Scottsdale 38,457 2,177 5.7 9 Tempe 30,474 4,402 14.4 74 Tucson 116,566 28,318 24.3 164 Arkansas Little Rock 44,306 9,531 21.5 144 California Anaheim 96,579 18,640 19.3 119 Bakersfield 78,924 19,549 24.8 168 Berkeley 14,173 2,018 14.2 69 Burbank 21,940 2,991 13.6 65 Chula Vista 49,453 6,618 13.4 64 Concord 30,092 2,896 9.6 37 Corona 41,104 4,339 10.6 44 Costa Mesa 24,288 4,057 16.7 97 Daly City 22,722 1,813 8 25 Downey 30,309 4,458 14.7 76 East Los Angeles CDP 42,291 14,854 35.1 227 El Monte 38,444 13,187 34.3 224 Escondido 39,008 7,184 18.4 110 Fontana 47,817 8,827 18.5 111 Fremont 51,877 3,207 6.2 13 Fresno 137,596 50,617 36.8 231 Fullerton 31,143 4,442 14.3 71 Garden Grove 46,176 8,144 17.6 104 Glendale 43,203 9,006 20.8 137 Hayward 36,877 4,511 12.2 56 Huntington Beach 41,678 3,580 8.6 28 Inglewood 35,604 10,849 30.5 204 Irvine 33,257 2,110 6.3 14 Lancaster 37,202 8,274 22.2 149 Long Beach 131,787 43,479 33 218 Los Angeles 958,787 294,029 30.7 206 Modesto 55,461 12,393 22.3 152 Moreno Valley 51,380 9,586 18.7 113 Norwalk 32,193 4,883 15.2 82 Oakland 97,626 27,558 28.2 191 Oceanside 43,033 7,152 16.6 94 Ontario 52,622 10,449 19.9 127 Orange 32,519 4,207 12.9 62 Oxnard 52,578 9,992 19 115 Palmdale 42,855 8,758 20.4 134 Pasadena 30,099 6,523 21.7 146 Pomona 50,141 14,019 28 190 Rancho Cucamonga 37,561 3,074 8.2 27 Riverside 74,551 14,424 19.3 119 Sacramento 108,229 32,342 29.9 198 Salinas 46,524 9,609 20.7 136 San Bernardino 63,645 23,177 36.4 230 San Buenaventura (Ventura) 24,801 3,159 12.7 59 San Diego 285,824 58,046 20.3 133 San Francisco 109,001 15,443 14.2 69 San Jose 230,534 25,034 10.9 46 Santa Ana 109,679 27,010 24.6 166 Santa Clara 19,856 1,332 6.7 16 Santa Clarita 45,279 3,186 7 20 Santa Rosa 34,911 3,492 10 39 Simi Valley 31,084 2,038 6.6 15 Stockton 76,928 25,514 33.2 219 Sunnyvale 26,490 1,571 5.9 10 Thousand Oaks 29,726 1,616 5.4 6 Torrance 31,214 2,276 7.3 21 Vallejo 31,116 3,953 12.7 59 West Covina 28,981 3,330 11.5 51 Colorado Arvada 26,461 1,786 6.7 16 Aurora 74,614 9,246 12.4 58 Colorado Springs 93,810 10,592 11.3 48 Denver 118,347 24,640 20.8 137 Fort Collins 25,005 2,216 8.9 29 Lakewood 31,252 3,143 10.1 42 Pueblo 25,158 6,320 25.1 171 Westminster 26,681 1,440 5.4 6 Connecticut Bridgeport 38,649 9,709 25.1 171 Hartford 35,624 14,701 41.3 244 New Haven 30,577 9,963 32.6 217 Stamford 25,524 2,270 8.9 29 Waterbury 27,932 6,682 23.9 162 Delaware [no cities over 100,000] District of Columbia Washington 111,535 35,367 31.7 212 Florida Cape Coral 22,645 2,130 9.4 34 Clearwater 20,139 3,907 19.4 122 Coral Springs 35,439 3,704 10.5 43 Fort Lauderdale 28,436 8,412 29.6 197 Hialeah 51,240 11,574 22.6 156 Hollywood 29,025 5,310 18.3 109 Jacksonville 193,091 32,907 17 99 Miami 77,285 29,770 38.5 239 Orlando 40,398 11,091 27.5 187 Pembroke Pines 34,448 1,883 5.5 8 St. Petersburg 52,178 10,186 19.5 123 Tallahassee 25,743 5,717 22.2 149 Tampa 73,168 19,949 27.3 183 Georgia Athens-Clarke County 17,793 4,428 24.9 169 Atlanta 90,755 35,624 39.3 241 Augusta-Richmond County 52,757 14,535 27.6 188 Columbus 48,991 10,975 22.4 154 Savannah 33,039 10,424 31.6 209 Hawaii Honolulu CDP 69,434 10,462 15.1 81 Idaho Boise City 46,171 4,614 10 39 Illinois Aurora 45,006 5,078 11.3 48 Chicago 742,632 211,780 28.5 193 Joliet 30,385 4,203 13.8 66 Naperville 40,818 952 2.3 1 Peoria 28,191 8,175 29 194 Rockford 38,817 7,786 20.1 129 Springfield 26,466 4,690 17.7 105 Indiana Evansville 27,145 5,224 19.2 118 Fort Wayne 54,570 9,819 18 107 Gary 29,787 11,387 38.2 238 Indianapolis 198,199 32,941 16.6 94 South Bend 28,420 6,913 24.3 164 Iowa Cedar Rapids 28,711 2,703 9.4 34 Des Moines 47,962 7,540 15.7 87 Kansas Kansas City 41,101 9,909 24.1 163 Overland Park 37,993 1,209 3.2 3 Topeka 29,010 5,071 17.5 103 Wichita 91,663 13,613 14.9 79 Kentucky Lexington-Fayette 54,565 8,039 14.7 76 Louisville 59,489 20,164 33.9 222 Louisiana Baton Rouge 54,834 17,401 31.7 212 Lafayette 27,286 5,078 18.6 112 Metairie CDP 29,388 3,396 11.6 53 New Orleans 127,566 51,707 40.5 242 Shreveport 53,142 17,896 33.7 221 Maryland Baltimore 157,227 48,806 31 207 Massachusetts Boston 113,849 29,499 25.9 177 Cambridge 13,158 2,053 15.6 86 Lowell 27,861 6,579 23.6 159 Springfield 42,648 14,637 34.3 224 Worcester 40,034 10,062 25.1 171 Michigan Ann Arbor 18,742 1,459 7.8 23 Detroit 287,960 100,238 34.8 226 Flint 37,459 14,126 37.7 234 Grand Rapids 52,247 10,540 20.2 131 Lansing 31,079 7,329 23.6 159 Livonia 23,855 761 3.2 3 Sterling Heights 29,782 2,023 6.8 18 Warren 31,233 3,099 9.9 38 Minnesota Minneapolis 81,695 20,477 25.1 171 St. Paul 76,160 18,008 23.6 159 Mississippi Jackson 51,576 17,528 34 223 Missouri Independence 26,404 3,210 12.2 56 Kansas City 109,213 22,529 20.6 135 Springfield 29,220 5,725 19.6 125 St. Louis 87,772 32,356 36.9 232 Montana [no cities over 100,000] Nebraska Lincoln 51,008 5,764 11.3 48 Omaha 97,475 15,599 16 91 Nevada Henderson 43,289 2,971 6.9 19 Las Vegas 120,753 19,247 15.9 89 North Las Vegas 38,350 7,617 19.9 127 Paradise CDP 38,226 6,028 15.8 88 Reno 40,927 7,035 17.2 101 Spring Valley CDP 24,406 1,794 7.4 22 Sunrise Manor CDP 45,558 7,942 17.4 102 New Hampshire Manchester 24,748 3,708 15 80 New Jersey Elizabeth 31,179 7,002 22.5 155 Jersey City 58,369 16,015 27.4 184 Newark 74,008 27,285 36.9 232 Paterson 43,506 12,743 29.3 196 New Mexico Albuquerque 107,682 19,302 17.9 106 New York Buffalo 75,530 29,200 38.7 240 New York 1,887,687 571,756 30.3 202 Rochester 60,488 22,927 37.9 235 Syracuse 36,015 12,760 35.4 228 Yonkers 46,715 11,661 25 170 North Carolina Charlotte 132,106 18,670 14.1 67 Durham 42,019 8,288 19.7 126 Fayetteville 30,096 6,541 21.7 146 Greensboro 49,170 8,007 16.3 92 Raleigh 56,770 8,095 14.3 71 Winston-Salem 42,204 9,408 22.3 152 North Dakota [no cities over 100,000] Ohio Akron 53,545 13,920 26 178 Cincinnati 79,306 25,807 32.5 216 Cleveland 133,335 50,629 38 236 Columbus 169,036 32,188 19 115 Dayton 40,578 13,111 32.3 215 Toledo 80,397 20,996 26.1 180 Oklahoma Oklahoma City 126,886 29,784 23.5 158 Tulsa 95,094 19,901 20.9 140 Oregon Eugene 27,766 4,303 15.5 84 Portland 108,156 17,903 16.6 94 Salem 33,702 7,076 21 141 Pennsylvania Allentown 25,793 7,703 29.9 198 Erie 25,762 7,066 27.4 184 Philadelphia 375,269 118,467 31.6 209 Pittsburgh 65,201 18,136 27.8 189 Rhode Island Providence 44,547 18,045 40.5 242 South Carolina Columbia 21,770 6,581 30.2 201 South Dakota Sioux Falls 30,400 3,240 10.7 45 Tennessee Chattanooga 33,842 9,270 27.4 184 Clarksville 29,490 4,149 14.1 67 Knoxville 33,241 8,824 26.5 182 Memphis 177,863 54,057 30.4 203 Nashville-Davidson 124,210 24,164 19.5 123 Texas Abilene 28,770 5,542 19.3 119 Amarillo 47,695 9,563 20.1 129 Arlington 92,633 11,771 12.7 59 Austin 145,257 24,734 17 99 Beaumont 30,211 8,759 29 194 Brownsville 48,000 21,732 45.3 245 Carrollton 30,174 2,342 7.8 23 Corpus Christi 76,442 17,819 23.3 157 Dallas 309,654 79,045 25.5 176 El Paso 172,684 51,945 30.1 200 Fort Worth 148,883 32,450 21.8 148 Garland 63,540 7,391 11.6 53 Grand Prairie 38,234 5,910 15.5 84 Houston 528,007 139,487 26.4 181 Irving 47,416 6,963 14.7 76 Laredo 62,205 23,660 38 236 Lubbock 48,488 10,776 22.2 149 McAllen 32,204 9,868 30.6 205 Mesquite 37,376 3,448 9.2 32 Pasadena 44,162 9,309 21.1 142 Plano 62,981 3,082 4.9 5 San Antonio 321,426 78,961 24.6 166 Waco 28,281 8,839 31.3 208 Wichita Falls 24,904 4,514 18.1 108 Utah Provo 22,860 3,510 15.4 83 Salt Lake City 41,877 7,954 19 115 West Valley City 35,651 4,101 11.5 51 Vermont [no cities over 100,000] Virginia Alexandria 21,121 3,027 14.3 71 Arlington CDP 30,435 2,899 9.5 36 Chesapeake 56,163 5,624 10 39 Hampton 34,604 5,700 16.5 93 Newport News 48,581 10,128 20.8 137 Norfolk 55,038 15,602 28.3 192 Portsmouth 25,072 6,364 25.4 175 Richmond 42,068 14,040 33.4 220 Virginia Beach 115,121 10,304 9 31 Washington Bellevue 22,838 1,353 5.9 10 Seattle 84,965 12,335 14.5 75 Spokane 47,094 9,494 20.2 131 Tacoma 48,683 10,275 21.1 142 Vancouver 37,778 6,303 16.7 97 West Virginia [no cities over 100,000] Wisconsin Green Bay 25,537 3,377 13.2 63 Madison 35,623 4,151 11.7 55 Milwaukee 166,438 53,187 32 214 Wyoming [no cities over 100,000]