Poorest County in the Nation

Not surprisingly, the poorest county in the U.S. is largely Native:

...recently released census figures show that nowhere are the numbers as bad as here -- a county with 2,500 residents, most of them Cheyenne River Sioux Indians living on a reservation.

In the coldest months of the year, when seasonal construction work disappears and the South Dakota prairie freezes, unemployment among the Sioux can hit 90 percent.

Poverty has loomed over this land for generations. Repeated attempts to create jobs have run into stubborn obstacles: the isolated location, the area's crumbling infrastructure, a poorly trained population and a tribe that struggles to work with businesses or attract investors.

The Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, created in 1889, consists almost entirely of agricultural land in Ziebach and neighboring Dewey County. It has no casino and no oil reserves or available natural resources.

There are, as the article explains, some efforts to build the county's infrastructure, but when you are looking at 90% unemployment, you have an uphill battle at best.