According to a list recently released by 24/7 Wall Street, Johnstown and its surrounding area is officially the third fastest shrinking city in the United States, with the only ones listed above it being Pine Bluff, Arizona and Farmington, New Mexico.
When describing Johnstown, 24/7 Wall Street said “Most metro areas with declining populations also have declining economies. Few had as rapidly shrinking GDPs as Johnstown, however. The metro area’s economic output contracted by an average of 2.4% annually between 2011 and 2015. As is common in areas with significant population declines, property values are low in Johnstown. The typical area home is worth only $89,100, one of the lowest median home values of all U.S. metro areas.”
From 2011 to 2016, the population of Johnstown decreased by 5.50 percent, the average household income was a mere $38,512 (compared to the nationwide average of over $50,000), and the unemployment rate was 6.1 percent, versus the nationwide average unemployment rate of 4.7 percent.
Johnstown is shrinking fast, and many are now wondering whether the city will be able to recover, or if it is destined to go the way of so many other small cities-slowly fading into the background over time.
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