America's Fastest-Dying Towns

Median incomes can drop if young workers or immigrants are moving to an area and taking newly formed jobs at lower salaries, which isn't necessarily a sign that times are tough. However, if the number of folks under the poverty line surges while incomes drop, it's a sign of economic decline instead of transition. This is what's happening in places ... See more

Bensenville leads our list of America's dying small towns. Other manufacturing hubs hit hard by declines in the auto industry appear on the list. They include places like Kokomo, Ind., Austintown, Ohio, and Middletown, Ohio.

As late as 2000, times were pretty good. Poverty was a minuscule 6.5%, incomes were growing and folks were relocating to Bensenville from outside the state at a steady rate.

But Bensenville's fortunes have since changed. Incomes have dropped by 11.4% (without accounting for inflation), poverty has more than doubled and domestic in-migration has grou... See more