Cities That Don’t Look Like the Rest of Their State
Most cities cluster reasonably close to their own state’s average on income, rent burden, unemployment and school proficiency. These sit far enough outside it that "the state average" stops describing them at all.
Calexico, CA carries 30.7% on unemployment rate, against a California average of 5.5% across 498 published cities — 11.8 standard deviations away. The 24 rows below it are less extreme and still further from their own state’s norm than ordinary variation between cities explains.
Key findings
- Unemployment rate accounts for 19 of the 25 outliers shown, more than any other measure.
- 5 of those unemployment outliers are cities on or near the US-Mexico border, whose seasonal and cross-border labor markets do not resemble the rest of their state’s cities.
- 24 of the 25 rows sit above their state’s mean rather than below it.
| City | Measure | City value | State average | Std. deviations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calexico, CA | Unemployment rate | 30.7% | 5.5% | +11.8 |
| Warren, OH | Unemployment rate | 7.3% | 3.5% | +6.4 |
| San Luis, AZ | Unemployment rate | 32.1% | 6.5% | +6.3 |
| Delano, CA | Unemployment rate | 17.0% | 5.5% | +5.4 |
| Danville, VA | Unemployment rate | 6.9% | 3.6% | +5.3 |
| Brawley, CA | Unemployment rate | 16.8% | 5.5% | +5.3 |
| Gary, IN | Unemployment rate | 7.6% | 3.8% | +5.0 |
| Youngstown, OH | Unemployment rate | 6.3% | 3.5% | +4.7 |
| Port Arthur, TX | Unemployment rate | 9.6% | 4.9% | +4.7 |
| El Centro, CA | Unemployment rate | 15.3% | 5.5% | +4.6 |
| Parkland, FL | Median household income | $198,669 | $80,066 | +4.6 |
| East Lansing, MI | Rent as a share of income | 51.0% | 29.7% | +4.5 |
| Pueblo, CO | Unemployment rate | 6.7% | 4.2% | +4.5 |
| Rochester, NY | Unemployment rate | 6.1% | 4.0% | +4.4 |
| West Lafayette, IN | Rent as a share of income | 51.0% | 29.5% | +4.3 |
| Camden, NJ | Unemployment rate | 8.8% | 4.7% | +4.2 |
| Conway, SC | Unemployment rate | 7.2% | 4.0% | +4.1 |
| Springfield, MA | Unemployment rate | 8.0% | 4.8% | +4.0 |
| Leawood, KS | Median household income | $185,625 | $76,482 | +3.9 |
| Petersburg, VA | Unemployment rate | 6.0% | 3.6% | +3.9 |
| Chester, PA | Unemployment rate | 7.6% | 4.0% | +3.9 |
| Eastpointe, MI | Unemployment rate | 13.8% | 5.7% | +3.8 |
| Zionsville, IN | Median household income | $172,024 | $72,485 | +3.7 |
| The Acreage, FL | Rent as a share of income | 15.2% | 35.4% | −3.7 |
| Eagle Pass, TX | Unemployment rate | 8.5% | 4.9% | +3.6 |
The mean and standard deviation behind each row are computed from that same state’s own published cities, so a state with few large cities produces a noisier baseline than one with many — the 12-city minimum keeps that noise from qualifying a city on a technicality, without eliminating it entirely. This measures how unusual a city is within its own state, not the underlying figure itself: a city can appear here for an unusually low rent burden as easily as an unusually high one.
Methodology
For each of four independently measured figures — median household income, rent as a share of income, unemployment rate and math proficiency — every published city of 25,000 or more is compared against the mean and standard deviation of that same figure across every other published city in its own state. A state needs at least 12 published cities carrying the measure before any of its cities can qualify, so the comparison is never drawn against a handful of neighbors. Only cities standing 3.2 standard deviations or further from their state’s own mean are included — a threshold set well above the ordinary spread a state’s own cities show on their own.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Local Area Unemployment Statistics (la)
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) (2024)
Related
Every figure here is recalculated from the same measurements the profiles use. See the methodology for how the underlying data is collected and normalized, and the editorial policy for how these reports are written.