For a nation mired in seemingly never-ending economic doldrums, turns out the summer wasn’t half bad. From July to September, the U.S. economy grew 2.5 percent, double the rate from April to June. Unemployment is expected to stay level through the winter, and consumer spending rose .6 percent in September, coupled with a small increase in personal income.
Yet much of the nation is still struggling to pay the bills. Wall Street can’t figure out whether to be bullish or bearish, and overall student debt recently surpassed $1 trillion. The economy is certainly recovering—the annual GDP rate was up 2.5 percent from July to September, the best rate in a year—but ask anyone at Occupy Wall Street: We’re still a long way away from pre-recession numbers making a real difference in the average American’s life.
In short, the national numbers are promising, but plenty of people are still hurting. To find the most struggling cities in the country, we used three data points weighted equally: the most recently available unemployment rate (August 2011), median household income, and average debt. Data is from a recent report by Experian and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average credit score for each city is included in the gallery, though not taken into account to determine the final ranking. If this data is any indication, the cities struggling the most right now—the ones that may take the longest to recover—are clustered in the South and along the Pacific Coast.
Unemployment: 14.2%
Median household income: $51,437
Average personal debt: $24,975
Average credit score: 709
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Unemployment: 10.3%
Median household income: $46,478
Average personal debt: $24,747
Average credit score: 734
Phelan M. Ebenhack / AP Photo
Unemployment: 11.2%
Median household income: $45,352
Average personal debt: $24,030
Average credit score: 719
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Unemployment: 10.4%
Median household income: $50,324
Average personal debt: $25,433
Average credit score: 727
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Unemployment: 11.4%
Median household income: $38,819
Average personal debt: $23,075
Average credit score: 747
Paul Sancya / AP Photo
Unemployment: 9.5%
Median household income: $46,755
Average personal debt: $25,561
Average credit score: 716
David Goldman / AP Photo
Unemployment: 11.5%
Median household income: $43,936
Average personal debt: $24,079
Average credit score: 750
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Unemployment: 9.0%
Median household income: $44,216
Average personal debt: $25,218
Average credit score: 731
Dennis Lathem / AP Photo
Unemployment: 9.6%
Median household income: $48,062
Average personal debt: $26,391
Average credit score: 731
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Unemployment: 8.3%
Median household income: $43,209
Average personal debt: $26,048
Average credit score: 710
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Unemployment: 10.6%
Median household income: $36,015
Average personal debt: $23,639
Average credit score: 710
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Unemployment: 9.9%
Median household income: $45,513
Average personal debt: $25,053
Average credit score: 712
Dave Martin / AP Photo
Unemployment: 12.9%
Median household income: $48,198
Average personal debt: $25,073
Average credit score: 743
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Unemployment: 10.5%
Median household income: $44,825
Average personal debt: $24,716
Average credit score: 745
Logan Mock-Bunting / AP Photo
Unemployment: 11.0%
Median household income: $41,120
Average personal debt: $23,971
Average credit score: 748
Lynn Hey / AP Photo
Unemployment: 13%
Median household income: $50,699
Average personal debt: $25,634
Average credit score: 740
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Unemployment: 10.4%
Median household income: $37,507
Average personal debt: $23,775
Average credit score: 715
Moses Robinson
Unemployment: 8.1%
Median household income: $39,143
Average personal debt: $27,004
Average credit score: 713
Ronald Martinez / AP Photo
Unemployment: 10.0%
Median household income: $40,648
Average personal debt: $24,951
Average credit score: 759
Shannon Dininny / AP Photo
Unemployment: 9.6%
Median household income: $41,583
Average personal debt: $25,348
Average credit score: 750
Paul Sancya / AP Photo
Unemployment: 9.6%
Median household income: $44,477
Average personal debt: $26,204
Average credit score: 709
Rob Carr / AP Photo
Unemployment: 13.8%
Median household income: $41,657
Average personal debt: $24,734
Average credit score: 754
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Unemployment: 11.0%
Median household income: $43,547
Average personal debt: $25,376
Average credit score: 740
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Unemployment: 11%
Median household income: $39,998
Average personal debt: $24,919
Average credit score: 737
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Unemployment: 14.4%
Median household income: $45,524
Average personal debt: $25,697
Average credit score: 709
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Unemployment: 11.2%
Median household income: $40,177
Average personal debt: $25,013
Average credit score: 760
Jeff Barnard / AP Photo
Unemployment: 10.9%
Median household income: $39,664
Average personal debt: 25,177
Average credit score: 730
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Unemployment: 11.5%
Median household income: $41,291
Average personal debt: $25,277
Average credit score: 716
Pat Sullivan / AP Photo
Unemployment: 12.5%
Median household income: $31,736
Average personal debt: $25,074
Average credit score: 686
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Unemployment: 9.8%
Median household income: $36,553
Average personal debt: $27,928
Average credit score: 721
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