A bit sad to read, but well worth the time.
Every national / city newspaper should do a similar piece on their country or city. (And yes, I am aware that the Guardian is not really an American newspaper.)
America's poorest towns | US news | The GuardianIn a series of four dispatches, Chris McGreal reports from four of the poorest towns in the USA - in Kentucky, Mississippi, Texas and Arizona - and meets those trying to do more than survive in places so remote from the American Dream.