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 Chinquapin Park-Belvedere ranks way above the rest.
We examined 54 of Baltimore’s neighborhoods to find out the worst places to live. These places don’t quite measure up to Baltimore’s reputation.
Here are the 10 worst neighborhoods in Baltimore according to data:
So what’s the worst neighborhood to live in Baltimore for 2020? According to the most recent census data, Fairfield Area looks to be the worst neighborhood in Baltimore.
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.
For more Maryland reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Maryland
- Cheapest Places To Live In Maryland
- Most Dangerous Cities In Maryland
The 10 Worst Neighborhoods In Baltimore For 2020
/10
Population: 530
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $26,633 (2nd worst)
Median Income: $29,271 (6th worst)
More on Fairfield Area: Data
/10
Population: 2,359
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 2)
Median Home Value: $60,120 (7th worst)
Median Income: $31,725 (8th worst)
More on Dundalk Cityside: Data
/10
Population: 3,168
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Median Home Value: $14,650 (1st worst)
Median Income: $28,677 (4th worst)
More on Monument Street Area: Data
/10
Population: 2,235
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Median Home Value: $37,160 (3rd worst)
Median Income: $33,926 (10th worst)
More on Orangeville: Data
/10
Population: 11,041
Rank Last Year: 5 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $57,042 (6th worst)
Median Income: $28,740 (5th worst)
More on Greenmount East: Data
/10
Population: 475
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 1)
Median Home Value: $41,800 (4th worst)
Median Income: $36,631 (12th worst)
More on Pulaski: Data
/10
Population: 5,628
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 3)
Median Home Value: $65,593 (8th worst)
Median Income: $40,870 (20th worst)
More on Berea Area: Data
/10
Population: 52,160
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 2)
Median Home Value: $78,008 (13th worst)
Median Income: $28,589 (2nd worst)
More on West Baltimore: Data
/10
Population: 4,383
Rank Last Year: 8 (Down 1)
Median Home Value: $66,250 (9th worst)
Median Income: $30,643 (7th worst)
More on Madison-Eastend: Data
/10
Population: 13,252
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 3)
Median Home Value: $75,582 (12th worst)
Median Income: $40,238 (18th worst)
More on Brooklyn-Curtis Bay: Data
The residential community of Curtis Bay is along three major north-south thoroughfares of Curtis Avenue, Pennington Avenue and residential Fairhaven Avenue and a partial street of Prudence Street. Running west to east are fifteen smaller residential streets named alphabetically for various types of trees. “The Bay”, as it is often called colloquially, also offers a variety of housing, townhouses, rowhouses, individual homes, and corner stores, taverns/bars.
How we determined the worst Baltimore hoods in 2020
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, Maryland 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.
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. Chinquapin Park-Belvedere 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:
- Most Ghetto Cities In Maryland
- Richest Cities In Maryland
- Safest Places In Maryland
- Best Cities For Singles In Maryland
- Most Expensive Places To Live In Maryland
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.
I’m sorry, Shels is correct. If my neighborhood, Glen-Falstaff, is halfway down the list, Baltimore must be better than I thought. I have to question the data; to my knowledge, the income listed is that of the whole zip-code; the area’s income is double that. (We are involved in the neighborhood association.) I paid over $300,000 for my house, on Glen Avenue, a beautiful, tree-lined, integrated area.
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.
Fairfield is an industrial zone? Ya don’t think anyone lives there…
It’s funny how we the people always try to down talk one another, instead of being our brother or sisters keeper, yes these senseless crimes are becoming outrageous , west baltimore is ran down , our government officials feed us a little to say what they have done to assist the people instead schools are constantly being shut down , new development are being build for others out side the community , the community is being genocide , the rich is getting richer and the poor is becoming poorer, they put people in the welfare to work program and you still living below proverty , it’s a mental thing some people feel that they can’t do better and other are fighting to live a productive life, we have these white collar cops who have taken an oath to protect us instead they are killing us in getting away because they were trained to say we assaulted them first , wake up people this a alone give them the freedom to kill, we put our mouth on people and don’t even no their story being bias will evently kill you. Not justifying the wrong that people do , but our government that sits on the shoulders of Jesus Christ is wicked they are part of the problem a major part, whats wrong with the people is that their mines are in bondage, they are captives, we need to get back to Eden.
Baltimore is screwed up. I’m an Uber driver. Last nite I was followed at least two miles by an unknown vehicle after dropping off my last passenger. The driver was tailgating and harassing me while I was trying to avoid being near or next to them, the vehicle kept creeping close to me no matter how much I tried to avoid contact. I finally dialed 911 and put it on speaker, I was lucky enough nothing else happened. This was in the Belair-Edison Neighborhood; in which a person happened to die from a gunshot wound five days ago. I am staying away from this place thank you for the article.
If you take the time to look at the map and highlight the mentioned areas, there isn’t much left safe to drive but downtown Baltimore…that’s a shame!
Baltimore city is the pits. Everyone is waiting for a handout. Stop waiting for the government to feed you and get a flipping job. Maybe then you’ll be too tired to shoot someone!!
Gov’t mouth-open stooges wanting food, drugs and i-phones paid for them. You wonder why the country is soooo divided, because working taxpayers are DONE with gov’t taxing to pay social service HANDOUTS.
I ve lived here all my life and am a senior now. Its upsetting to see how crime has taken over. You are not safr day or night anymore. Trash is thrown out windows as people drive by and break in s are the New Normal. Terrible city
If you have any bit of ambition, but you are stuck in Baltimore city for any reason, and you happen to stumble across this article, I will encourage you to build some wealth. Get a steady job, learn about ways to invest the money you make (what they don’t teach in Baltimore’s schools because most teachers/adults aren’t financially literate either), be secretive with your earnings unless you want family and friends to turn into enemies, and save until you can afford to move somewhere better or go to the county! The county areas are much more friendly. It’s more diverse, and the population is more relaxed. People walk by you and smile in the county, black or white, whereas in the city, you try to avoid eye contact with certain people, especially as a young woman. It’s two different worlds. If you’re not familiar with the city and you are doing Uber or Postmates, then drive in the county or nearby places in Maryland like Towson, Cockeysville, etc.! You’ll have better luck with safety and tips as well.
I didn’t know Baltimore is that bad city. I watched the tv series Wire. Anyway my son is moving there to study PhD in JHU. We are looking a place for him. Anyone has suggestions I would appreciate. Good neighborhood etc.