I hear some on here complaining about rural Iowa, but it makes me wonder how much these people have been to rural areas in other States. Iowa rural communities look high dollar compared to a lot of them around the country. And you do not have to go that far out of Iowa to see those that are much worse.
The Dakotas, Appalachians, South, Southwest, all have rural and small towns that look much much worse than any in Iowa, and it really is not even close. Cities around the country have a lot of rat holes too.
I like to get off the interstate and take the less traveled roads on trips and you will really see how much worse off some areas are. There are some really poor areas around, the country, and Iowa is not really close to as poor as some.