A new article named Johnstown as the poorest town in Pennsylvania. Locals are torn over the new report: some believe it, others were angered by it, saying that it doesn’t represent the entire Greater Johnstown area.

“There’s no jobs, there’s nothing here,” said Romie Young, a Johnstown resident.

“It’s a small city so people look at it as a poor city,” said Kyle Boisvert, another city resident.

The article used Johnstown’s population, average household income and food assistance program data.

It says a typical Johnstown annual household income is $24,075, less than half the state’s average: $54,895.

The article also cites a 37 percent poverty rate based on a population of 20,169.

Those figures are more forgiving than the latest 2017 U.S. Census Bureau data, which lists Johnstown’s population at 19,643 and a median household income of $23,636, compared to the state’s: $56,951.

The census lists Johnstown’s poverty rate at 37.9 percent, however it says that figure can’t be compared to other geographic levels because of differences in data collection.

The Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Convention & Visitors Bureau Executive Director Lisa Rager admits there are many people in Johnstown living in poverty. Although, she said the article fails to acknowledge the new businesses and job growth that’s happening in the Greater Johnstown area.

“There are a lot of good things going on and I don’t think a report or statistic like that should really define us because there’s a bigger story to tell there and it’s a positive one,” Rager said.

She added that there are so many small municipalities that make up Greater Johnstown, that the report would look a lot different if they were consolidated.

Romie said he’s not surprised by the ranking.

“There’s not really that much around here,” Romie said. “People go to the soup kitchen because they don’t either have the ability, they’re not eligible for food stamps, or they’re, they just can’t find a job that makes enough money around here to support themselves.”

Others, like Boisvert, said the ranking doesn’t represent the new jobs and businesses coming into Greater Johnstown.

“These guys are trying to come up here, trying to make it, you know, real popular. Trying to, you know, put stuff up here to make it look more home-y and more rich,” Boisvert said. “But, they’re actually trying to do some big things.”