The 10 Worst Charlotte Suburbs

The 10 Worst Charlotte Suburbs To Live For 2025

We’ll get the ball rolling with Kings Mountain, the absolute worst place to live around Charlotte according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Kings Mountain beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 2nd worst in the Charlotte area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks worst when it comes to home values.

But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Kings Mountain.

You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area. There aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.

Welcome to York. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.

This city is 27.2 miles to Charlotte. Income levels here are the 3rd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $47,315 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.

But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.

Back up the highway we go for the third worst Charlotte suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Monroe on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.

In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school dropout rate is poor compared to other Charlotte suburbs.

But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.

If you live in Gastonia, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 7th lowest Charlotte suburb for median household incomes.

Not only that, but this is the 12th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Charlotte. Remember, we looked at 42 cities for this study.

Gastonia is about 20.2 miles to downtown.

Wingate has the distinction of being a Charlotte suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Wingate has the 11th lowest home values in the metro Charlotte area, where the median price is $311,306. The median income is $250,001.

Wingate has an unemployment rate of 5.57% which ranks 8th worst.

Lowell has 3,711 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)

Incomes are towards the bottom, and the poverty rate sits at 19.21195652173913%.

Ah, China Grove. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Charlotte.

It’s the place with the 6th most out of work residents in the Charlotte metro area (5.78%).

Clover is a city about 22.9 miles from Charlotte, but Charlotte probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Clover has the 9th most uninsured people, 11th worst incomes, and has the highest unemployment rate (8.3%) in the entire Charlotte metro area.

Homes only cost $413,977 for a reason. That’s cheap for Charlotte standards.

If you absolutely have to live near Charlotte, then Lincolnton might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Charlotte suburb.

About 3.35% of residents are out of work.

Rounding out the ten worst Charlotte suburbs to call home is Hemby Bridge.

Located 13.5 miles outside the city, Hemby Bridges is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 42nd highest unemployment rate (0.61%), and poverty is far above the area average.