Why were the Macedonians poor?
The Macedonians were poor because Greece is mountainous, leaving very little means of making a living or growing crops. Their region was destitute and lacked agricultural and economic resources. The area offered few opportunities for income, making the people poor and destitute.
Les explains that Macedonia was part of Greece, which is mountainous, so there was usually very little means of making a living, of growing crops and so forth, and therefore they were poor. He describes them as four poor people up in Macedonia and calls it a poor, destitute area. Les notes that Paul took offerings from those poor believers so that he would not have to take a dime from Corinth, which was a wealthy, commercial city.