Tennessee ranks among worst states for people living in poverty

Tennessee is among the worst states to live in for those in poverty, according to a new study.

Nearly 36 million Americans live in poverty, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. To identify the best and worst states for those in poverty, SmileHub analyzed 50 states based on 20 key metrics, including food insecurity rates, the number of charities per capita, and income inequality.

According to Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, or ALICE, which represents the growing number of families who are unable to afford the basics of housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, and technology, 14% of Tennessee households were defined as being in poverty.

Here's where Tennessee landed in the rankings.

Is Tennessee a good state to be in poverty?

Tennessee ranked as No. 38 on the list

of best states for poverty, making it among the lowest. Out of 100, Tennessee scored a 42.09 and was among the states with the lowest minimum wage in the country.

The state ranked No. 14 for education and transportation availability, No. 40 for income and benefits, and No. 39 for housing, healthcare and food.

Tennessee was ranked as the state with the fifth-lowest cost of living in the country. Of the states ranked lower than Tennessee, ten were from the South and the other two were Kansas and Wyoming.

What are the best states for those in poverty?

Massachusetts was ranked as the best state to live in for those in poverty. The state was ranked No. 2 for education and transportation availability, No. 8 for income and benefits, and No. 5 for housing, healthcare and food.

It also had the fourth-highest public school spending per student.

1. Massachusetts
2. Minnesota
3. Washington
4. New Jersey
5. Maryland
6. Rhode Island
7. New York
8. Illinois
9. Colorado
10. California

What are the worst states for those in poverty?

Mississippi was ranked as the worst state to live in for those in poverty, with a score of 28.44 out of 100. It ranked No. 49 for education and transportation availability, No. 50 for income and benefits, and No. 43 for housing, healthcare and food.

1. Mississippi
2. Texas
3. Georgia
4. South Carolina
5. Alabama
6. Arkansas
7. Louisiana
8. Florida
9. Oklahoma
10. West Virginia

Methodology

To determine the best states for individuals in poverty, SmileHub evaluated all 50 states across three key dimensions: education and transportation availability, income and benefits, and housing, healthcare, and food.

Here is the breakdown of each category:

• Education and transportation availability: access to public transportation, public schools per capita, public school spending per student, and presence of a free community college education.
• Income and benefits: charities for reducing poverty per capita, share of residents living in poverty, public welfare expenditure per capita, minimum wage, income inequality, individual income tax as a share of personal income, presence of mandatory paid sick leave, and presence of paid family leave.
• Housing, healthcare and food: food insecurity rate, average benchmark premiums for health insurance, presence of an expanded Medicaid policy, Medicaid spending per capita, cost of living, median monthly rent, affordable/available rental homes per 100 extremely low-income households, and federal rental assistance per capita.

Jordan Green covers trending news for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at [e-mail].

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Tennessee ranks among worst states for people living in poverty