50 Worst Places To Live Gastonia ???

On a list of the 50 worst American Cities to live, Detroit, Memphis and Baltimore come to mind, but Gastonia? Sadly at number 45 sits Gastonia our gateway to Charlotte.

45. Gastonia, North Carolina
> Population: 74,551
> Median home value: $134,300
> Poverty rate: 19.7%
> Pct. with at least a bachelor’s degree: 23.0%

A suburb of the fast-growing Charlotte metropolitan area, Gastonia’s population has more than tripled in size since 1950. Despite the steady growth, Gastonia lags behind most U.S. cities in a number of quality of life measures. The city’s poverty rate of 19.7% is well above the nationwide rate of 14.7%. Also, there were 716 violent crimes reported per 100,000 Gastonia residents in 2015, one of the highest violent crime rates of any U.S. city.

While over the past few decades Charlotte economy has developed into a major banking and financial center, Gastonia has remained relatively dependent on manufacturing. U.S. manufacturing activity has declined in recent years, and a number of plant closings in Gastonia have contributed to job losses throughout the city. Gastonia’s annual unemployment rate of 6.2% is higher than the 5.3% national rate.

The entire article is here: http://247wallst.com/special-report/2017/06/16/50-worst-cities-to-live-in/3/