97 of the nation's 100 poorest counties are in Republican states

[ErikJ]

Politifact: Are 97 of the nation's 100 poorest counties in Republican states? rated: Mostly True

A meme circulating on Twitter and other social media recently caught our eye. Created by the liberal group Occupy Democrats, it said, "97 percent of the 100 poorest counties in America are in red states. But tell me again how Republican policies grow the economy?"

This was a variation on a few memes we’ve checked previously -- that nine out of the 10 poorest states are red states (we rated this Mostly True) and that Republican-leaning states get more in federal dollars than they pay in taxes (also Mostly True).

While the meme’s suggestion that "Republican policies" are causing poverty is too subjective a question to be fact-checked, we decided to take a closer look at the set-up to the claim -- that "97 percent of the 100 poorest counties in America are in red states."

For median income, we found that 95 of the 100 poorest counties were located in red states. Here are the 10 poorest, all of them in red states:

1. Owsley County, Ky.

2. Jefferson County, Miss.

3. Wolfe County, Ky.

4. Brooks County, Texas

5. McCreary County, Ky.

6. Hudspeth County, Texas

7. Hancock County, Tenn.

8. Jackson County, Ky.

9. Clay County, Ky.

10. Holmes County, Miss.

For percentage of residents in poverty, we found that 93 of the 100 poorest counties were in red states.

Here are the 10 with the highest poverty rates, all of them in red states:

1. Shannon County, S.D.

2. Clay County, Ga.

3. East Carroll Parish, La.

4. Sioux County, N.D.

5. Todd County, S.D.

6. Hudspeth County, Texas

7. Holmes County, Miss.

8. Corson County, S.D.

9. Wolfe County, Ky.

10. Humphreys County, Miss.

(Warning: I think this may be a virus infected link because I got one which my virus detector caught. GOP sabotage?)

.......................more http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/jul/29/facebook-posts/are-97-nations-100-poorest-counties-red-states/

[yeoman6987]

1. Blue cities get the brunt of the negative

Stories because they have a larger population. I always thought that was unfair. Ask the average person on the street what is the poorest place in America and I would guess a super majority would say Detroit. So unfair!

[ErikJ]

2. Owsley County, Kentucky is poorest -99% white and 95% Republican

Now I get how a sleazy con-man like McConnel could remain in office so long.

[JaneyVee]

3. Next time Rand Paul asks if anyone ever got a job from a poor person...

Just point to his job. Kentucky all over that list.