Almost half of Americans in big cities are strapped

Although Americans are flocking to big cities to find career opportunities and for a taste of the urban high life, for many metropolitan living can also turn into a financial dead-end.

Almost half of households in the largest American cities are financially insecure, with almost no savings to rely on. If a major life challenge hits, such a job loss or major illness, 45 percent lack the savings to cover basic expenses at the federal poverty level for even three months, according to a new report from the Corporation for Enterprise Development.

"The inability to bounce back from financial pitfalls is not only a detriment to families but also to the economic growth of the cities in which they live," noted the group, a nonprofit organization that seeks to combat poverty.

About one-third of big city households also are "asset poor," which means that their assets are dwarfed by their debts. Those families are often "forced to prioritize today's expenses over tomorrow's goals," according to the report, which looked at U.S. cities with at least 200,000 residents.

The U.S. city with the most financially insecure residents is Newark, New Jersey, with almost three-quarters of its households ranked as "liquid asset poor." Although it's the largest city in New Jersey, Newark suffers from a host of problems, including a poverty rate triple that of the state's and a high crime rate.

Newark residents also ranked as suffering from the highest rate of "asset poverty," or having more debts than assets. More than half of the city's residents fall into that category.

The findings come amid a national debate over income inequality, with recent years witnessing poor families failing to see wage gains while the rich get richer. In the years since the recession ended, most American families have seen stagnating income, which may explain why payday loans and bankruptcy filings have jumped in the post-recession years, according to data from the Federal Reserve.

Offering payday loans, or short-term loans that typically charge high interest rates, is a thriving industry, with 12 million customers. Lenders target Americans who may find themselves strapped to cover daily expenses such as rent or food, loaning money to cover those costs until their next pay check arrives.

Many cities also include significant numbers of "unbanked" or "underbanked" households, or homes that either lack a bank account, or who may have one account, such as a checking account, but rely on alternative financial products such as payday loans, the study found. On that front, Newark residents are again the worst-off, with one-third of its households lacking any bank account. Philadelphia ranks as having the most underbanked population, with about 36 percent of households in that category.

Below are the 10 U.S. cities with the highest rates of liquid asset poverty:

1. Newark, New Jersey ( 74.7 percent)
2. Hialeah, Florida (68.7 percent)
3. Detroit (67.9 percent)
4. Miami (67.1 percent)
5. Cleveland (64.6 percent)
6. San Bernardino, California (63 percent)
7. Laredo, Texas (62.4 percent)
8. Santa Ana, California (62.1 percent)
9. Birmingham, Alabama 59.7 (percent)
10. Rochester, New York 57.7 (percent)