Monroe, Louisiana

One of the main reasons why this Louisiana city ranked as one of the worst U.S. cities is the high poverty rate. Over one-third of Monroe citizens are currently living in poverty, which is more than double the national poverty rate of 14.6 %.

On top of that, Monroe deals with one of the highest crime rates in America. For every 100,000 residents, there were 2,225 violent crimes reported. There are only five other cities with numbers as bad as this one. Property crime is also a major factor of concern here, as there were reported 8,232 crimes reported per 100,000 residents.