Ville Platte is the Poorest Town in Louisiana

Income inequality seems to be a growing problem in the United States. There continues to be a rising disparity between the haves and the have nots.

In Louisiana, we sure know the struggle with a sluggish economy. Although with an uptick in oil prices, let's hope things are making a turn for the better.

Back to the opening statement about income inequality. There are still millions of Americans living in poverty.

24/7 Wall Street recently took a look at every American town to determine the poorest town in each state. And a bit surprising, even in wealthy states like Maryland and New Jersey there are towns that rank among the poorest in the country.

What about Louisiana -- which town is the poorest? That unfortunate distinction goes to Ville Platte.

Here are the stats for the Evangeline Parish town:

• Town median household income: $18,679
• State median household income: $45,652
• Town poverty rate: 38.4%
• Town population: 7,338

What stinks is that there are several Louisiana towns that have a low enough median household income to qualify as the poorest town in most other states.

Ville Platte is the only Louisiana that the typical household earns less than $20,000 a year. The town's median household income is nearly a third of the national median income of $55,322.