The 20 worst US cities for financial stability

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The 20 worst US cities for financial stability

dallas texas

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The state of Texas had five of the top 20 most financially stressed cities in the US (including Dallas, pictured above).

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While financial stress can creep in anywhere, certain cities seem more prone to it than others.

SmartAsset analyzed 90 US cities to determine which ones had the highest levels of financial stress as of 2019. Researchers assessed each city in terms of its unemployment rate, average mortgage as a percentage of median home value, percentage of population living below poverty level, percentage of households who are severely housing-cost burdened (in other words, spending more than 50% of their income on housing), average debt, percentage of people who reported that they didn't see a doctor due to cost, change in income, and divorce rate.

Read more: More millennials are ditching big US cities for the suburbs, and it shows just how dire the unaffordable housing crisis is

Each city received a final score between 0 and 100 based on a combination of the eight metrics. The list encompasses cities of different sizes from coast to coast. Some states, like Texas and Ohio, have multiple financially-stressed cities.

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Financial issues can come from anywhere, but this year's rankings were clearly impacted by the current unaffordable housing crisis. Of the 90 cities SmartAsset analyzed, nearly half had more than 10% of residents spending 50% or more of their income on housing costs - far above the widely recommended 30% budget.

Keep reading for a look at the 20 US cities most burdened with stress related to finances, ranked in increasing order.

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20. Las Vegas, Nevada

20. Las Vegas, Nevada

Score: 59.49

Unemployment rate: 4.7%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 14.5%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 10.2%

Divorce rate: 14.0%

T19. Dallas, Texas

T19. Dallas, Texas

Score: 59.65

Unemployment rate: 3.4%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 18.5%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 10.7%

Divorce rate: 10.4%

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T19. San Antonio, Texas

T19. San Antonio, Texas

Score: 59.65

Unemployment rate: 3.3%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 17.3%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 8.6%

Divorce rate: 11.9%

17. Toledo, Ohio

17. Toledo, Ohio

Score: 60.45

Unemployment rate: 4.7%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 24.5%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 9.2%

Divorce rate: 15.0%

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16. Norfolk, Virginia

16. Norfolk, Virginia

Score: 61.25

Unemployment rate: 3.1%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 20.0%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 13.0%

Divorce rate: 11.2%

15. Bakersfield, California

15. Bakersfield, California

Score: 61.41

Unemployment rate: 8.4%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 17.8%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 11.7%

Divorce rate: 10.1%

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14. Hialeah, Florida

14. Hialeah, Florida

Score: 61.58

Unemployment rate: 3.4%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 22.5%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 18.1%

Divorce rate: 12.9%

13. Miami, Florida

13. Miami, Florida

Score: 62.22

Unemployment rate: 3.4%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 22.7%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 19.5%

Divorce rate: 13.1%

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12. Mesa, Arizona

12. Mesa, Arizona

Score: 62.54

Unemployment rate: 4.8%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 15.0%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 9.3%

Divorce rate: 12.5%

11. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

11. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Score: 63.18

Unemployment rate: 4.3%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 25.7%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 12.3%

Divorce rate: 9.2%

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10. Cincinnati, Ohio

10. Cincinnati, Ohio

Score: 64.7

Unemployment rate: 4.2%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 27.7%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 12.1%

Divorce rate: 12.8%

9. Baltimore, Maryland

9. Baltimore, Maryland

Score: 64.63

Unemployment rate: 4.1%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 22.2%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 13.2%

Divorce rate: 10.9%

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8. Houston, Texas

8. Houston, Texas

Score: 67.36

Unemployment rate: 4.0%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 20.6%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 8.8%

Divorce rate: 10.0%

7. Corpus Christi, Texas

7. Corpus Christi, Texas

Score: 68.65

Unemployment rate: 4.5%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 14.5%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 8.4%

Divorce rate: 12.0%

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6. Tucson, Arizona

6. Tucson, Arizona

Score: 72.35

Unemployment rate: 5.3%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 22.1%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 9.3%

Divorce rate: 13.7%

5. Cleveland, Ohio

5. Cleveland, Ohio

Score: 75.72

Unemployment rate: 5.1%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 33.1%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 12.0%

Divorce rate: 14.3%

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4. Memphis, Tennessee

4. Memphis, Tennessee

Score: 77.01

Unemployment rate: 5.0%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 24.6%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 11.4%

Divorce rate: 10.7%

3. El Paso, Texas

3. El Paso, Texas

Score: 77.33

Unemployment rate: 4.1%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 19.3%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 10.2%

Divorce rate: 11.4%

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2. Albuquerque, New Mexico

2. Albuquerque, New Mexico

Score: 77.81

Unemployment rate: 5.4%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 15.2%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 10.5%

Divorce rate: 14.1%

1. New Orleans, Louisiana

1. New Orleans, Louisiana

Score: 100.00

Unemployment rate: 4.8%

Percentage of population below the poverty level: 26.2%

Severely housing cost-burdened households: 15.7%

Divorce rate: 13.3%

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