Ben Hill was ranked Georgia’s worst county to live in, according to a Wall St. 24/7 analysis of regions with the poorest quality of life within all 50 states.
Ben Hill recorded a five-year population change of negative 1.9 percent. Its poverty rate was estimated at 30.4 percent, while the share of adults with bachelor’s degrees was 10.2 percent, 24/7 Wall St. reported.
Average life expectancy at birth in Ben Hill is 73.6 years.
The analysis used U.S. Census Bureau numbers, as well as data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, to examine these counties’ poverty rates, average life expectancy and the share of the population with four-year college degrees. Counties with populations under 10,000 were excluded from the analysis.
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The counties identified in the study were largely left out of the general prosperity the United States as a whole experienced in recent years, 24/7 Wall St. said.
Worst Counties to Live in by State
| Rank | County | State | 5-year Population Change | Poverty Rate | Adult Bachelor’s Degree Attainment | Life Expectancy (Years) |
| 1 | Wilcox | Alabama | -6.7% | 31.9% | 12.0% | 72.2 |
| 2 | Bethel Census Area | Alaska | 4.5% | 27.0% | 12.6% | 74.3 |
| 3 | Apache | Arizona | 0.0% | 35.9% | 11.5% | 74.3 |
| 4 | Phillips | Arkansas | -9.8% | 33.0% | 11.3% | 71.3 |
| 5 | Lake | California | -0.4% | 22.8% | 15.3% | 75.8 |
| 6 | Otero | Colorado | -2.5% | 22.9% | 17.7% | 76.4 |
| 7 | Windham | Connecticut | -1.2% | 11.1% | 24.4% | 79.0 |
| 8 | Kent | Delaware | 6.4% | 13.0% | 23.5% | 77.5 |
| 9 | Union | Florida | -0.6% | 21.4% | 8.3% | 67.6 |
| 10 | Ben Hill | Georgia | -1.9% | 30.4% | 10.2% | 73.6 |
| 11 | Hawaii | Hawaii | 5.9% | 17.4% | 28.6% | 80.2 |
| 12 | Owyhee | Idaho | -0.8% | 23.3% | 9.7% | 78.7 |
| 13 | Saline | Illinois | -2.2% | 20.6% | 16.4% | 74.9 |
| 14 | Switzerland | Indiana | 1.0% | 19.7% | 8.7% | 76.5 |
| 15 | Lee | Iowa | -2.7% | 16.3% | 15.7% | 77.5 |
| 16 | Wyandotte | Kansas | 3.8% | 21.4% | 16.7% | 75.4 |
| 17 | McCreary | Kentucky | -2.5% | 41.0% | 7.6% | 76.3 |
| 18 | Madison Parish | Louisiana | -4.1% | 36.4% | 13.4% | 71.6 |
| 19 | Piscataquis | Maine | -2.7% | 18.7% | 17.8% | 78.0 |
| 20 | Baltimore | Maryland | -0.1% | 22.4% | 30.4% | 72.1 |
| 21 | Hampden | Massachusetts | 1.1% | 17.2% | 26.5% | 78.9 |
| 22 | Lake | Michigan | 1.1% | 25.0% | 11.4% | 76.8 |
| 23 | Wadena | Minnesota | -1.3% | 15.0% | 12.9% | 78.8 |
| 24 | Holmes | Mississippi | -4.9% | 46.5% | 10.7% | 71.0 |
| 25 | Pemiscot | Missouri | -5.2% | 28.5% | 12.0% | 72.0 |
| 26 | Roosevelt | Montana | 7.1% | 29.1% | 15.5% | 71.2 |
| 27 | Dakota | Nebraska | -1.6% | 16.8% | 12.6% | 78.4 |
| 28 | Nye | Nevada | -1.2% | 17.3% | 11.5% | 74.1 |
| 29 | Coos | New Hampshire | -2.3% | 13.3% | 18.3% | 78.2 |
| 30 | Cumberland | New Jersey | -1.2% | 18.8% | 14.4% | 76.6 |
| 31 | McKinley | New Mexico | 1.3% | 37.5% | 10.8% | 78.4 |
| 32 | Bronx | New York | 5.0% | 29.7% | 19.4% | 78.7 |
| 33 | Robeson | North Carolina | 0.2% | 29.2% | 12.8% | 73.7 |
| 34 | Rolette | North Dakota | 4.6% | 32.4% | 20.7% | 73.0 |
| 35 | Adams | Ohio | -2.1% | 23.8% | 12.1% | 75.2 |
| 36 | Choctaw | Oklahoma | -1.3% | 31.0% | 12.5% | 73.3 |
| 37 | Malheur | Oregon | -2.0% | 25.2% | 13.2% | 78.4 |
| 38 | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | 2.9% | 25.8% | 27.1% | 75.5 |
| 39 | Providence | Rhode Island | 1.0% | 16.7% | 27.8% | 79.3 |
| 40 | Marlboro | South Carolina | -4.3% | 26.6% | 8.9% | 72.0 |
| 41 | Oglala Lakota | South Dakota | 0.0% | 51.9% | 12.4% | 66.8 |
| 42 | Grundy | Tennessee | -2.9% | 28.5% | 11.0% | 72.5 |
| 43 | Zavala | Texas | 3.4% | 36.2% | 7.6% | 77.9 |
| 44 | San Juan | Utah | 3.3% | 28.4% | 17.3% | 79.0 |
| 45 | Orleans | Vermont | -0.9% | 14.2% | 22.0% | 79.4 |
| 46 | Petersburg | Virginia | -0.6% | 27.6% | 17.5% | 72.2 |
| 47 | Adams | Washington | 3.7% | 23.1% | 13.6% | 79.2 |
| 48 | McDowell | West Virginia | -10.3% | 34.9% | 4.9% | 70.3 |
| 49 | Adams | Wisconsin | -3.8% | 13.0% | 12.5% | 77.8 |
| 50 | Uinta | Wyoming | -0.9% | 14.9% | 17.4% | 77.4 |
Source: 24/7 Wall St.
