Apache was ranked Arizona’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.
Apache recorded a five-year population change of 0 percent. Its poverty rate was estimated at 35.9 percent, while the share of adults with bachelor’s degrees was 11.5 percent, 24/7 Wall St. reported.
Average life expectancy at birth in Apache is 74.3 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.
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.
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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 |