Baltimore’s neighborhoods conjure up too many stereotypes to count. You’ve got hipster areas, preppy places, neighborhoods where college kids thrive, and of course, ghettos.
It seems as if there’s a neighborhood for everyone in Baltimore.
And while the city consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in the country thanks in part to a strong economy and tons of entertainment, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine in Baltimore. Some neighborhoods aren’t as great as others.
So the question arises, which Baltimore neighborhoods are the worst, and which are the best?
Today, we’ll use science and data to determine which Baltimore hoods need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Baltimore area if you will. Realistically, you can’t expect all the neighborhoods to be amazing, although Riverside ranks way above the rest.
We examined 54 of Baltimore’s neighborhoods to find out the worst places to live. These ten places don’t quite measure up to Baltimore’s reputation:
- Fairfield Area
- Monument Street Area
- Orangeville
- Dundalk Cityside
- Greenmount East
- Cherry Hill
- Pulaski
- Madison-Eastend
- West Baltimore
- Berea Area
Read on to see how we determined the places around Baltimore that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don’t blame the messenger.
Once you’re done, you can look at the bottom of the story for a complete chart of every neighborhood we looked at from worst to best.
Looking for places to avoid outside of the city? You can also check out the worst suburbs of Baltimore.
And if you’re looking for something more national, check out the worst cities in America or the most dangerous cities in America.
For more reading on Maryland, check out:
- 10 Best Places To Live In Maryland
- 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Maryland
- 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Maryland
How we determined the worst Baltimore hoods
To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what places have the least amount of those things. We threw the following criteria into this analysis in order to get the best, most complete results possible. We used this set of criteria for each neighborhood in Baltimore:
- High unemployment (Less jobs)
- Low median income (Less pay)
- Low population density (No things to do)
- Low home values (No one’s willing to pay to live here)
- High crime (Estimated)
Then, we ranked each neighborhood in Baltimore for each of these criteria from worst to best.
Next, we averaged the individual rankings for each criteria into a “Worst Score”.
The neighborhood with the lowest “Worst Score” ranks as the worst neighborhood of Baltimore.
Read on below to learn more about these terrible places around Baltimore to live. Or skip to the end to see the list of all 54 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.
This list is a scientific analysis based on real data and is completely unbiased. Hold on to your pants.
1. Fairfield Area
Population: 472
Median Income: $26,275
Median Home Value: $28,267
2. Monument Street Area
Population: 2,933
Median Income: $25,578
Median Home Value: $39,850
3. Orangeville
Population: 2,420
Median Income: $33,515
Median Home Value: $59,540
4. Dundalk Cityside
Population: 2,914
Median Income: $29,122
Median Home Value: $68,460
5. Greenmount East
Population: 10,165
Median Income: $26,619
Median Home Value: $71,175
6. Cherry Hill
Population: 8,182
Median Income: $30,867
Median Home Value: $79,338
7. Pulaski
Population: 480
Median Income: $35,684
Median Home Value: $45,333
8. Madison-Eastend
Population: 4,496
Median Income: $25,287
Median Home Value: $73,800
9. West Baltimore
Population: 52,690
Median Income: $28,841
Median Home Value: $87,692
10. Berea Area
Population: 5,187
Median Income: $32,938
Median Home Value: $76,280
The ‘hoods around Baltimore that are really hoods
Well there you have it — the worst of the neighborhoods in Baltimore with Fairfield Area landing at the bottom of the pack.
As we mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Baltimore aren’t all bad. Riverside takes the cake as the best place to live in Baltimore.
We ranked the neighborhoods from worst to best in the chart below.
For more Maryland reading , check out:
- 10 Best Places To Raise A Family In Maryland
- These Are The 10 Fastest Growing Cities In Maryland
- 10 Safest Places In Maryland
- 10 Best Cities For Singles In Maryland
- 10 Worst Places To Live In Maryland
Detailed List Of The Worst Baltimore Neighborhoods
| Neighborhood | Rank |
|---|---|
| Fairfield Area | 1 |
| Monument Street Area | 2 |
| Orangeville | 3 |
| Dundalk Cityside | 4 |
| Greenmount East | 5 |
| Cherry Hill | 6 |
| Pulaski | 7 |
| Madison-Eastend | 8 |
| West Baltimore | 9 |
| Berea Area | 10 |
| Greater Rosemont | 11 |
| Beechfielf-Irvington Area | 12 |
| Brooklyn-Curtis Bay | 13 |
| Hopkins-Middle East | 14 |
| Mondawin-Walbrook Area | 15 |
| Lakeland | 16 |
| Midway-Coldstream | 17 |
| Grove Park | 18 |
| Old Town Area | 19 |
| Park Heights | 20 |
| Morrell Park | 21 |
| Pimlico | 22 |
| Bayview Area | 23 |
| Hunting Ridge | 24 |
| Belaire-Edison | 25 |
| Glen-Fallstaff Area | 26 |
| Downtown | 27 |
| Govans | 28 |
| Charles Village | 29 |
| Winsor Hills | 30 |
| Cedonia | 31 |
| Hampden-Woodberry-Remington | 32 |
| Forest Park | 33 |
| Howard Park | 34 |
| Franklintown | 35 |
| Jonestown | 36 |
| Highlandtown | 37 |
| Wakefield | 38 |
| Upper Northwood | 39 |
| Lower Northwood | 40 |
| Westgate | 41 |
| Patterson Park East | 42 |
| Inner Harbor | 43 |
| Hamilton Area | 44 |
| Reservoir Hill-Bolton Hill Area | 45 |
| Greater Mount Washington | 46 |
| Locust Point | 47 |
| Canton | 48 |
| Cheswolde Area | 49 |
| Federal Hill | 50 |
| Roland Parl-Homewood-Guilford | 51 |
| Chinquapin Park-Belvedere | 52 |
| Fells Point | 53 |
| Riverside | 54 |
The validity of this article is in question. West Baltimore is not a neighborhood. Park heights is not on the list but grove park is #9. This was written by someone who clearly has know real knowledge of our wonderful city.
And Shel demonstrated her knowledge through her excellent utilization of the English grammar to comment upon this article. Perhaps hooked on phonics will provide you with a refund.
Hahaha wonderful city? Baltimore is a cesspit of a city that needs to be cleansed of any and all trash.
Shels, I just thought the same thing. “West Baltimore”??? The whole west side is bad lol I had hoped a map was attached to bring some insight but there isn’t one. Maybe park heights isn’t included because the author included that in the “West Baltimore” category 🙂
Yes, a single map of these neighborhoods overlayed on Bmore map would be awesome
Yes Baltimore is one of the worst cities to live in for 2018 and the city know it.
The average black in the predominantly town want very little out of life. The only thing that interests them is guns, drugs, jeans, guns and killing each other. So many don’t have any education, job skills, jobs, job references, etc. A lot of them don’t even know their names if you were to show it to them on a billboard in block letters. And they could care less about betterment. But they are always ready to do someone else down under who are doing better. It is truly a sickening city to live and try to survive in.