I need to know where East St. Louis (the city in IL) ranks in terms of
poverty level among small U.S. Cities.  That is, is it the poorest
Small US City, the second poorest, etc?

Please define what the definition of "poverty" is and what the
definition of "small U.S. Cities."  This can't be your own analysis of
census data, but needs to be a list or a study or something created by
an organization that can be cited in footnotes.

The oldest the data can be is from the 2000 US Census.

Please ask for clarification if you aren't sure if you are answering
the question in the way I need it.

http://www.schoolmatch.com/articles/PDJAN01.htm

http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~kastor/walking-steel-95/ws-savage.html

http://www.informationgenius.com/encyclopedia/e/ea/east_st__louis__illinois.html

http://www.portaljuice.com/east_st__louis__illinois.html