The candidates running for Monroe city mayor and council seats received troubling news recently as they prepared to take their messages to voters regarding their plans for the future of Monroe. A scathing report from a firm called Madison Trust Co. lists the city of Monroe as the number 1 metro area for households living below the poverty level. This means that Monroe has one of the highest percentage (42.90%) of households in the entire nation living below the poverty line. Coming in at a close second was the city of Pine Bluff, AK, at 41.27%. MadisonTrust.com analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau to determine the metropolitan areas with household incomes of less than $35,000. According to the Census Bureau data, Monroe emerged as the poorest city.

One of the primary reasons for poverty in a nation as wealthy as America is low-paying jobs. While wages have increased in some sectors, inflation continues to outpace the earnings needed for a comfortable living. Advocates for higher wages have consistently called for wages to be a "living wage." According to the Madison Trust website, nearly half of Americans work in low-paying jobs, defined as jobs paying less than $18,000 per year. It is important to note that a majority of these individuals are not teenagers or people just starting their careers, but rather adults in the prime of their lives. Among the top 25 cities listed, Monroe was not the only Louisiana city to make the poverty list. Lafayette ranked no. 9, Shreveport-Bossier City no. 14, and Hammond no. 19. As expected, no city in Louisiana made the top 25 metro list for cities with the lowest percentage of households earning less than $35,000 per year.

With a Republican now in the governor's mansion (have you ever wondered why the governor lives in a mansion while so many of his constituents live in poverty?), one must ponder where Louisiana cities will rank on the poverty level in four years. The immediate focus is on Monroe, as the incumbent mayor prepares to reveal his plans for the city, alongside the former mayor and those running for office for the first time.