24/7 Wall St.

The median price of an existing home in Youngstown, Ohio was $85,400 last quarter, the lowest among all MSA in America. Consider that against the median for the nation at $229,400, or the highest in the country in San Jose at $1.08 million, and the Youngstown number is all the more astonishing.

Many of the cities with the lowest home values are close to Youngstown, and are also part of the old, rusted section of the U.S. Among the bottom 20 for the entire U.S., some within a day’s drive of Youngstown or less– Buffalo NY ($129,000), Ft Wayne IN ($128,000), Syracuse NY ($128,000), Canton OH ($128,000), Toledo OH ($125,000), South Bend IN ($121,000), Peoria IL ($120,000), Elmira NY ($115,000), Erie PA ($115,000), Rockford IL ($109,000), Binghamton NY $106,000), and Decatur IL ($97,000)

The bleeding of residents in Youngstown is similar in pattern to the cities, and other large industrial cities which include, in particular Detroit. Youngstown’s population in 1960 was over 166,000. According to U.S. Census estimates it fell to under 65,000 last year.

Another hallmark of these cities is a high poverty level. In Youngstown, the number is 37.4%, more than double the national average. The median income of households in the city is $24,361, according to Census data–less than half the national average.

Youngstown was recently on the 24/7 Wall St. list of Fastest Shrinking Cities, 50 Worst Cities to Live In, and Most Miserable Cities

More about Youngstown from the Federal Reserve Bank’s St Louis FRED database