I'll say from the start that I know this part of Illinois and I think the term "poor" is subjective and the very few people that live there would not consider themselves that. However, going purely by data, it is the poorest town in Illinois with only 32 people that call it home.
It's really difficult to make a statement about what's a good salary versus what would be considered a bad salary. Everyone has their own idea, but I'd bet that your guess about how much money you'd need to make to be considered middle-class in St. Louis, Missouri would be less than reality.
There are a lot of ways to define "wealth", but for the sake of simplicity, let's focus on how much the average family makes in each Missouri city and town. The 25 richest seem to be rolling in the dough and there's a new number one at the top of the list.
The old saying says the rich get richer and...well, the rest of us don't. That's true for one Illinois place which is suddenly home to the 4th most millionaires in America.
I don't doubt that the experts are right about this issue, but it doesn't feel like they're right about this issue. They claim that you can survive on less money in Missouri than almost any other state in America. Let's see if they're correct.
Where is the money in America? Apparently a lot of it is living near Lake Michigan in Illinois as one of those cities landed on the top 10 richest cities in America list.
Guaranteed income has been a controversial issue that has been discussed in many parts of America over the past couple years. One Illinois city is taking that concept and implementing a plan that would provide $500-a-month for residents. Their test for this plan has just begun.