New Report Says This Is The Poorest Town In New York State

In a world where we're all trying to make our money stretch, there are some places in New York that feel the financial squeeze more than others.

A report by 24/7 Wall Street recently listed the poorest towns in every state and it’s pretty bad news for one New York town. It also paints a picture for our country:

A recent survey from the U.S. Census Bureau found that over 85% of households making less than $50,000 a year reported at least some difficulty paying for usual household expenses in the last week, compared to less than 45% households earning $100,000 or more a year. Additionally, 61% households earning less than $50,000 found rising prices to be “very stressful,” compared to only 28% of households with annual incomes of $100,000 or more.

The report looked at places with populations between 1,000 and 25,000 people. It ranked them based on how much money the typical household makes. In these towns across the country, the median income is anywhere from $9,100 to $43,800 a year. To put that in perspective, most American households make over $69,000 annually.

Where In New York Is The Poorest Town?

Based off of their list, where in New York was ranked the poorest? That unfortunate honor goes to New Square. New Square is an all-Hasidic village in the town of Ramapo, Rockland County. It is located north of Hillcrest, east of Viola, south of New Hempstead, and west of New City. As of the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 9,679:

New Square
> Median household income: $24,881 (New York: $75,157)
> Adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher: 2.9% (New York: 38.1%)
> Households receiving SNAP benefits: 70.3% (New York: 14.3%)
> Median home value: $552,200 (New York: $340,600)
> Population: 9,433
> No. of towns considered in ranking: 724

Have you ever heard of this town before?